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ASO Thursday: Gorecki, Brahms
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3, composed in 1976, languished in obscurity until the late 1980s, when orchestras began programming it. Then a miracle happened.
In 1992, a Nonesuch recording, conducted by David Zinman with soprano Dawn Upshaw, became one of the biggest-selling classical recordings of all time. It topped the Billboard classical chart for 37 weeks, and even got to sixth place on the pop chart in Britain. Since then, it’s become a staple of the repertoire, and was used in Peter Wier’s movie “Fearless.”
So it’s something of a mystery that the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has waited until this week to program it, particularly given their affinity for “safe” modern pieces. As if to make up for lost time, they’re also recording it for Telarc, though you do have to wonder whether the classical world needs yet another recording, with over two dozen already in the catalogue.
Patrons entering Symphony Hall on Thursday might have paused to make sure this was the right place. Instead of the usual unforgiving bright glare, the entire room was dimmed a bit, the sides of the orchestra shell were bathed in colors, highlighting the wall texture, and there were three giant screens behind the orchestra.
In contrast to his earlier, dissonant works, Gorecki’s Third, subtitled “Symphony of Sorrowful Songs,” is thoroughly tonal and melodic. It is also quite slow, with distinct rhythmic patterns. But change is constantly afoot, and the piece seems shorter than its actual length (about an hour). The work is a setting of three Polish texts: a 15th Century Lamentation in which Mary speaks to Jesus as he is dying, a prayer written by a teenage girl that was found on the wall of a 1944 Gestapo prison, and a folk-song in which a mother grieves over a son killed in battle.
The soloist was Christine Brewer, and her large, bright, richly colored voice was a stark contrast to the duskier sound of Ms. Upshaw. She is thrilling to hear, but her focus seemed to be altogether on producing a beautiful sound, rather than giving us a sense of the passion in her texts. Even her facial expression seemed to lack any sense of emotion. She sang with her eyes half closed, as if in a dream. I would question whether her gleaming soprano is right for such a dark piece, but there is no denying the beauty of the sound that filled Symphony Hall as the three chants soared over the strings.
No one could accuse Donald Runnicles, who is conducting, of neglecting the drama in this symphony. Like a giant, pulsing organ, his orchestra took us inside a church of sorts. You could almost smell the incense, as this is a work with a strong Eastern Orthodox feel, although the composer is Polish and Catholic. The first movement, a canon for the strings, starts almost inaudibly in the double-basses and builds up. The singing comes in the middle, then the canon slowly descends. The remaining two movements contain contrasting melodic material, but retain the New Age mystical feel and the slow tempi.
A year ago, the Brooklyn Philharmonic came up with the idea of “staging” this symphony, and brought in visual artists to put together some projections (a movie, essentially), and choreographed movements for the soprano.
Following suit, the ASO in recent seasons has done what it calls “theater of a concert” productions. Hence its own projections and the big screens, but here they scratched the choreography: Brewer is not a dancer. The images, by Anne Patterson and Adam Larsen, were quite subtle and consisted of abstracts, nature scenes, and women’s faces, slowly changing, like the score.
This business borders on pandering, but - like the projected titles - it keeps the audience involved, and there was noticeably less coughing. At times, the images were quite engrossing, and I thought they added to the impact of the piece. For me, the more important effect was the lighting of the room and the musicians, who looked so much better on the darkened stage, gently lit by the glow from their music stands.
Perhaps wanting to give the audience some relief from all this angst, after the intermission they gave us Brahms’ Symphony No. 3, his most exuberant. And here, perhaps still under the spell of the Gorecki, Runnicles’ tempi seemed quite slow at times. This was an intensely dramatic reading. Perhaps too much so. There is an energy ceiling inherent in the work, I think, and a more restrained reading actually has more impact. Still, this was a glorious performance, and it seemed fair to give the woodwinds a chance to show off after the strings had dominated in the Gorecki. Laura Ardan played the andante’s clarinet solo with warmth and great feeling. And we got a second feature from the movie-makers as well. This one consisted mostly of water and trees, and again added to the overall effect.
This concert won’t be repeated tonight, as the orchestra is heading over to Encore Park for its inaugural concert. And on Sunday, the ASO Chorus heads to Germany, where Runnicles will conduct them with the Berlin Philharmonic.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Classical Music
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By Raver
May 11, 2008 7:43 PM | Link to this
James Paulk’s reviews often reveal a keen sense of musical knowledge and artistic characteristics. Not so with this review. Thursday’s performance of the Gorecki symphony was, in understated terms, magnificent and deeply moving. Christine Brewer’s sound and her complete engagement with the music was compelling and deeply moving. Frankly, I expected this concert to be a disappointment, given Dawn Upshaw’s riveting recording. How could a concert performance match a recording? I needn’t have worried. I never expected to be so moved as I was on Thursday - not once but several times. Brewer is the perfect choice for this symphony. The orchestra was in top form with Runnicles in total command. This ASO is a polished and articulate ensemble with Runnicles, so much so that one has to wonder what happens when he’s not on the podium. It’s a minor point, I know, but Paulk’s choice of words regarding the incense of the Orthodox liturgy seems to imply that incense isn’t part of the Catholic liturgy.
This concert was a memorable event, one of the greatest experiences I’ve had in 50 years of concert-going. Congratulations ASO! Send me a CD!