Expectancy and ecstasy

Karita Mattila
Photo: Marcia Rosengard

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Who: The St. Louis Symphony conducted by David Robertson with soprano soloist Karita Mattila
What: Music of Brahms, Wagner, and Schoenberg
When: Friday and Saturday, March 28 and 29, 2014
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis

The OnMusic Dictionary (at dictionary.onmusic.org) defines attacca as "a musical directive for the performer to begin the next movement (or section) of a composition immediately and without pause." Lately the symphony has been experimenting with playing compositions by different composers attacca as a way of highlighting similarities between the pieces. This weekend's bit of attacca might be the boldest yet, following the prelude to Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" (first performed in 1859) with Arnold Schoenberg's neurasthenic 1909 "monodrama" "Erwartung" ("Expectation").

[Find out more about the music with the symphony program notes and my Symphony Preview article.]

Although separated by six decades, the two works have more in common than you might think. Musically, the expanded harmonic language of "Tristan" marked the start of a sea change in composition style that eventually led to the serialism of Schoenberg, with its complete demolition of conventional notions of consonance and dissonance. Dramatically, both "Tristan" and "Erwartung" mix images of love and death. Or, as Freud would have put it, Eros and Thanatos.

Wagner in Paris, 1861

In Wagner's opera, the musical and psychological tension set up by the unsettling "Tristan chord" in the first measures of the "Prelude" aren't resolved until nearly four hours later when Isolde, in the rapturous "liebestod," wills herself to join her lover Tristan in death. In "Erwartung" the mixture of the erotic and the violent that forms the subtext of "Tristan" comes to the forefront in "a stream of consciousness libretto (it starts on page 59 of that link) written by poet and medical student Marie Pappenheim and inspired by Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams."

Scored for soprano and post-Wagnerian orchestra, "Erwartung" unfolds as a somewhat hallucinatory monolog in which the narrator (The Woman) wanders into a nocturnal forest expecting to meet her lover and instead finds his corpse. "The line between truth and fantasy grows increasingly blurred," writes Paul Schiavo in his program notes. "Who killed her lover? Did she do it herself? The only reference point is the dramatic impulse, but the protagonist is unreliable, in thrall to her own circuitous dream logic." Schoenberg himself, in his essay "New Music: My Music," said the aim of the piece "is to represent in slow motion everything that occurs during a single second of maximum spiritual excitement, stretching it out to half an hour."

This is demanding music, both for the audience and the soloist. Schoenberg's didactic, theme-free score is no easier on the ears now than it was over a century ago and the challenges it presents to the singer are substantial. She has to hold her own against a huge orchestra and convincingly portray a wide range of disordered emotions without tipping over into absurdity. It requires a performer with a powerful voice and exceptional acting skills.

Karita Mattila clearly has both. She gave us a jaw droppingly intense performance Friday night. A striking, statuesque figure in a slinky black gown and gray shawl, Ms. Mattila commanded attention from the moment she walked on stage during the final pages of the "Tristan" prelude and held it all the way through the deranged twists and turns of "Erwartung."

Schoenberg's Der Rote Blick (Red Gaze)
1910
en.wikipedia.org

The focus on the drama was enhanced by the canny use of lighting, as the house was dimmed more than usual and the orchestra illuminated by lights that changed color to match the mood of the text. The opening section describing the forest was all in green, for example, with a change to the silvery when the narrator's attention shifted to the moon. The lights went red when the narrator raged against a rival and then gold when the sun rose; very effective.

The orchestra's performance was no less impressive. The occasional massive musical explosion not withstanding, "Erwartung" has long solo and small ensemble passages that leave individual musicians very exposed. Peter Henderson on celesta and Allegra Lilly on harp acquitted themselves particularly well, I thought.

The concerts opened with a lush and passionate Brahms "Symphony No. 3" in which the rubato dial was cranked up to 11. I'm usually very impressed with Mr. Robertson's ability to highlight the musical architecture of a symphony while still retaining the dramatic tension of the music from beginning to end. This time things got rather sluggish as Mr. Roberson tended to linger lovingly over too many phrases and there were occasional intonation problems, especially in the third movement. It sounded somewhat under rehearsed in spots, which made me wonder whether or not it got short changed by the Schoenberg.

Next at Powell: Christian Tetzlaff is the soloist and Mr. Robertson is on the podium for Shostakovich's "Violin Concerto No. 1" and Sibelius's "Symphony No. 2." Performances are Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, April 5 and 6. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

Love and Death

The "Tristan" chord
commons.wikimedia.rg

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In his "Concord Hymn" Ralph Waldo Emerson describes the first shot of the American Revolutionary War as "the shot heard round the world." The same phrase has been applied to the shot that killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. This weekend the St. Louis symphony will be playing the musical equivalent of "the shot heard round the world." Let's call it "the chord heard round the world." Its effect was less violent, but no less revolutionary in its own way.

The chord in question is called the "Tristan chord." It's heard at the very beginning of the work that opens the second half of this weekend's concerts, the Prelude to Wagner's 1857 opera "Tristan und Isolde." It sounds dissonant, even to modern ears and, in fact, many critics have pegged it as the first shot in the ongoing war on tonality in music (although just as many others dispute that idea). Certainly it seems to anticipate the expanded harmonic palette of post-Wagnerian composers like Richard Strauss and Mahler and, by extension, the active hostility to conventional notions of harmony and melody which are still more popular than they probably deserve to be in some compositional circles.

Ludwig and Malwine Schnorr von Carolsfeld in the title roles
of the original production of
Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde in 1865

But its significance goes beyond that. What's really revolutionary about it is that it never really resolves. The tension it creates isn't fully released, in fact, until nearly four hours later when Isolde, in the rapturous "liebestod," wills herself to join her lover Tristan in death.

The erotic subtext of the "liebestod" is undeniable to anyone who has ever heard it. What destroys Tristan and Isolde, after all, isn't some chaste affection but rather a consuming passion that drives them to betrayal. Which ultimately makes the "Tristan chord" a bit of foreplay before the longest musical orgasm on record.

Does that all sound a bit Freudian? It should. The relationship between the constructive and destructive instincts in the human psyche—sex and death, Eros and Thanatos—is a central concept of Freudian psychology. Which is what makes the piece the immediately follows the "Prelude" this weekend so appropriate.

With a stream of consciousness libretto inspired by Freud's "The Interpretation of Dreams," Arnold Schoenberg's 1909 monodrama "Erwartung" ("Expectation") for soprano and orchestra unfolds as a somewhat hallucinatory monolog in which the narrator (The Woman) wanders into a nocturnal forest expecting to meet her lover and instead finds his corpse. "The line between truth and fantasy grows increasingly blurred," writes Paul Schiavo in his program notes. "Who killed her lover? Did she do it herself? The only reference point is the dramatic impulse, but the protagonist is unreliable, in thrall to her own circuitous dream logic." Schoenberg himself, in his essay "New Music: My Music," said the aim of the piece "is to represent in slow motion everything that occurs during a single second of maximum spiritual excitement, stretching it out to half an hour."

Which, in a way, brings us back to "Tristan" and its four-hour climax.

"Erwartung" is, in any case, a major challenge for the soprano soloist. Writing for The Guardian, Andrew Clements notes that the music is "immensely taxing, demanding a huge vocal range and sometimes a Wagnerian power and authority, while the huge orchestra supports and challenges her in a web of ever-shifting colours and thematic shapes presented with chamber-like transparency." It's not surprising, then, that this weekend's singer, Karita Mattila, has an impressive musical and theatrical resume, with substantial experience in the music of the 20th century and beyond. Her program bio describes her as "an influential artistic force in the development of new music, regularly collaborating with eminent contemporary composers in the debut performances of significant modern works."

This weekend's concerts open with music that is about as far away as one can get from the psychological depths of Wagner and Schoenberg. Brahms's "Symphony No. 3 in F major," Op. 90 was written in the summer of 1883 when the composer was, to quote Mr. Schiavo, "robustly healthy, if fat, and had a lust for life—as well as for young women." It bubbles over with the joy Brahms took in walking the forests and mountains around Weisbaden. He stayed there in an airy studio overlooking the Rhine, and you can almost hear that majestic river in the sweep of the opening of this music. It's wonderful stuff.

The essentials: David Robertson conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and soprano Karita Mattila in Wagner's "Prelude to Tristan and Isolde," Brahms's "Symphony No. 3," and Schoenberg's "Erwartung" on Friday and Saturday at 8 PM March 28 and 29, at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. For more information: stlsymphony.org. The Saturday performance will be broadcast on St. Louis Public Radio, 90.7 FM, HD 1, and via live Internet stream.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of March 24, 2014

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The Bach Society of St. Louis presents an Bach's St. John Passion on Sunday, March 30, at 3 PM at First Presbyterian Church of Kirkwood, 100 East Adams Ave. “Only Bach can produce great works of art that also take the listener on along a spiritual and emotional journey. The Leipzig master's setting of the Passion story from the Gospel of St. John combines powerful emotion with intense drama, providing a meaningful preparation for Lent. The Chorus and Orchestra are joined by five outstanding soloists who were featured in our recent St. Matthew Passion, tenor William Watson as the Evangelist, baritone Stephen Morscheck singing the role of Jesus, countertenor Jay Carter, tenor Lawrence Jones, bass Curtis Streetman, along with the Bach Society debut of soprano Kathryn Lewek.” For more information: www.bachsociety.org

The Community Music School of Webster University presents a concert of winning compositions from the 10th Annual Young Composers Competition on Saturday, March 29, at 3 PM. " The national competition selects winners in two levels: I. 12-16 years and II. 17-21 years. The 2013-2014 winners represent four different states. The concert will include a work by guest composer, Beth Denisch. Ms. Denisch's work has been described as "... wonderfully evocative ... simply splendid," David Cleary, New Music Connoisseur." The school is at 535 Garden Avenue in Webster Groves, MO. For more information: www.webster.edu/cms.

Karita Mattila
Photo: Lauri Eriksson

David Robertson conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and soprano Karita Mattila in Wagner's Prelude to Tristan and Isolde, Brahms's Symphony No. 3, and Schoenberg's Erwartung on Friday and Saturday at 8 PM March 28 and 29, at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. “Brahms constantly strived to embody and emulate the great symphonic model that Beethoven created. His Symphony No. 3 follows in Beethoven's path as a work unfolding with brilliant melody and harmony. A contemporary of Brahms, Wagner charted his own revolutionary path in the epic opera Tristan and Isolde with lush and powerful harmonies depicting a legendary love affair. Acclaimed by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch for “her big, steely voice and expressive charisma,” the captivating soprano Karita Mattila returns for Schoenberg's bone-chilling monodrama Erwartung.” For more information: stlsymphony.org.  Fill out an on-line form before Wednesday, March 26, and you might even win free tickets plus a gift certificate to Vito's!

Steve Lippia

Steve Lippia joins The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra for Simply Sinatra on Sunday, March 30, at 3 PM at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. “Steve Lippia joins the STL Symphony in a special tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes that every Sinatra fan will want to hear including "Come Fly with Me," "Luck Be a Lady," "The Lady is a Tramp," "My Way" and more. The Symphony performs arrangements of Sinatra's classic tunes and accompanies Steve Lippia.” For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Maryville University's Music Therapy Program present Creative Music Making, part of the orchestra's SymphonyCares music therapy initiative, on Wednesday, March 26, at 7 PM in the Maryville University Auditorium. " This partnership between the Symphony and Maryville gives people with physical and mental disabilities an opportunity to learn about and create music together with Symphony musicians and Maryville students." The auditorium is at 650 Maryville University Drive in Town and Country, MO. For more information: www.stlsymphony.org/symphony_neighborhood

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents Manuela Kaymakanova, violin and Diana Umali, piano in a program of music of Brahms, Turina, Zlatev-Cherkin, and Bartok on Saturday, March 29, at 8 PM. “Manuela Kaymakanova was born in Rousse, Bulgaria, and began her violin studies at the age of five. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Webster University, where she received the Buder scholarship for gifted students and studied with Yuly Iliashov. Presently she teaches at the Community Music School of Webster University and maintains a private studio. Diana Umali completed her master's degree in Piano Performance with an emphasis in accompanying/chamber music from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in May 2006. She graduated summa cum laude from Saint Louis University, attaining a B.A. in Music Performance and B.S. in Finance. Currently she is a music professor at Southwestern Illinois College.” The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

Third Baptist Church presents an organ concert on Friday, March 28, at 12:30 PM as part of its free Friday Pipes series. "Join us on Fridays at Third Baptist Church for Friday Pipes, the free organ recital series celebrating the restoration of the church's 72-rank Kilgen/Möller pipe organ. Each week a different performer will be presenting a program of classical, church, and theatre organ music in the beautiful sanctuary of Third Baptist. This season's performers come from across the USA, and even from around the world. Free parking is available in the church lots on Washington Avenue." Third Baptist Church is at 620 N Grand. For more information: www.third-baptist.org