Symphony Review: Gemma New returns for a celebratory Beethoven Ninth

Gemma New. Photo by Chris Christodoulou

Guest conductor Gemma New, in comments preceding her appearance with St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) last Saturday (March 1), said that the concert would be about “celebrating our Earth and our life upon it.” Certainly the work that opened the evening, the local premiere of “Hymn to the Sun” by St. Louis’s own Kevin Puts (b. 1972), was quite a party.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

Commissioned by the Sun Valley Summer Symphony in 2008, “Hymn to the Sun” is described by Puts as “a wild, sacred dance to call forth the sun and all its powers, and then the sudden and magnificent rising on the horizon.” It absolutely was that on Saturday night, with terrifically demanding writing for the percussion section (especially the marimbas, xylophone, and piano) and elaborate passages for the flutes. The mood abruptly shifted to a powerful chorale for the strings—the hymn of the title—before returning to the sense of wild revelry that opened the work.

Props to percussionists Will James, Alan Stewart, Kevin Ritenauer, and Charles Renneker; pianist Peter Henderson; and the members of the flute section: Jennifer Nitchman, Jennifer Gartely, and Ann Choomack (doubling on piccolo). New led her forces through this elaborate web with that perfect mix of what my fellow critic Gary Liam Scott described as “poise and control” a few years ago.

The mood turned reverential with the next work (also a St. Louis premiere) the Fantasia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 537, by J.S. Bach (1685–1750) in a 1921 orchestration by Sir Edward Elgar (1857–1934). Elgar employs the full resources of the post-Wagner orchestra (around 80 players) with spectacular results, especially in the final moments of the fugue.

Elgar doesn’t unleash the full power of that big band for the first time until nearly the end of the fantasia, which begins with the main theme played by the oboes and clarinets—done with great feeling Saturday by Phil Ross and Xiomara Mass (oboes) along with Abby Raymond and Thomas Frey (clarinets). Shannon Wood on tympani and (I think) Will James on bass drum provided the ominous processional tread that Elgar added to Bach’s original. The composer doesn’t pull out all the stops again, so to speak, until the final pages of the fugue, when the horns and bras sections really come to the forefront. They sounded terrific Saturday night, especially Thomas Jöstlein’s horns in those exposed trills.

New possesses a singular combination of artistic sensitivity and fine craftsmanship, especially when it comes to revealing sonic details. I could, for example, hear that in the way she kept the threads of the fugue clearly delineated while losing none of the raw power of the composer’s orchestration. This was a classic case of the iron fist in the velvet glove, a fine mix of finesse and force.

The same was true of her take on the evening’s Big Event, the Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (Choral) by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827). Ideally, the Ninth ought to open with a mix of otherworldly mystery and tension, like the components of a nebula spiraling together to form a star, moving from pianissimo violins over a horn pedal point to a fortissimo statement of the first theme by the full orchestra. With the right pacing and instrumental balance, that first movement (Allegro ma non troppo e un poco maestoso—“not too fast and somewhat majestically”) should grab one by the throat.

The SLSO did all that and more under New’s direction. She  is, as I have written previously, an engrossingly theatrical conductor who engages on a very physical level with the score. Her big, sweeping gestures are a kind of 3-D metaphor for the music, bringing an added visual dimension to an already persuasive performance.

The first movement was rich in orchestral detail and forward momentum. The Molto vivace—Presto second movement featured some delightfully precise playing by the horns and woodwinds. The Adagio third had a balletic flow and heightened the contrast with what went before. And then there was the famous choral finale.

In looking over my notes from Saturday night, I find that my handwriting (which is never all the clear, even to me) deteriorated to chicken scratches as I tried to keep up with all the great things happening on stage. The vocal quartet was quite impressive, particularly bass-baritone Nathan Berg, who sang from memory and was deeply connected to the lyrics. 

Tenor Jamez McCorkle was a bit more dependent on his score but nevertheless turned in a fine performance in the alla Marcia solo. The decision to put the marching band in its own space stage right worked very well here, allowing the audience to hear both it and soloist quite clearly.

Soprano Susanna Phillips and mezzo Sasha Cooke, both familiar faces locally, rounded out the quartet in fine style, their powerful voices blending perfectly.

Under Erin Freeman’s direction, the SLSO Chorus were in top form. Their enunciation was crisp and their vocal lines clear, even during the complex contrapuntal moments in the choral finale. Beethoven, as New remarked back at the top of the evening, was a great admirer of Bach—a fact that is abundantly clear in Ninth. Indeed, in the hands of some conductors (the late Wilhelm Furtwängler comes to mind) Beethoven’s writing can be a bit of a strain for the singers. Happily, New and Freeman appear to have a better grasp of what works best for choristers.

So, yes, another immensely satisfying Beethoven Ninth from the SLSO. The last time they did it (February 2020) with Stéphane Denève at the podium, I praised their performance as “the Ninth against which all others must now be measured.” This one, I’m pleased to report, measured up quite well.

Next from the SLSO: Jason Seber conducts the orchestra in David Arnold’s score for the 2006 film version of Ian Fleming’s Casino Royale as the movie unspools on the big screen overhead at the Stifel Theatre. Performances are Saturday at 7:00 pm and Sunday at 2:00 pm, March 8 and 9.

Review: The grand old sound of "A New Hope"

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

L-R: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, an Imperial battle cruiser swooped down across the screen to the strains of a full symphony orchestra. Movies and movie music have never been quite the same since.

This past weekend (January 25-27), Gemma New and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra reminded me of that magic moment as they performed John Williams's score for "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope" (or, as it was known back in 1977, plain old "Star Wars") while the film played on the big screen above them. And as thrilling as it was to hear that big, old-fashioned sound in a theatre back in the day, nothing quite compares with the visceral impact of hearing it performed live by an 80-piece orchestra.

That's especially when it's the exemplary members of our own SLSO. When we attended on Saturday night, the horns and brass were in excellent form, the percussion section was impeccably precise, and the orchestra in general performed at a very high level. On the podium, Ms. New did her usual flawless job conducting in synch with the film--a skill that has apparently become increasingly important for younger conductors in recent years.

Gemma New

Williams sprinkled his score with lots of fun orchestral details that aren't always noticeable in a movie house, but which emerge with great clarity live. That includes the reference to Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" for C-3PO's trek across the Tatooine desert, the menacing low brass passages for the Empire and its minions, and the grand triumphal march at the end, which has always reminded me of the patriotic declarations of Elgar and Walton. Yes, the film remains a Certified Rouser, but hearing the score live gave me an opportunity to appreciate Williams's consummate skill as a composer once again.

Fans of the "Star Wars" series probably noted that the version of the film screened this weekend was not the original 1977 release, but rather the digitally remastered 1997 re-release, in which many of the original special effects shots were enhanced and a few new scenes using computer animation were added--most notably a meeting between Han Solo and Jabba the Hut. It looked wonderful on Powell Hall's big screen, and the dialog tracks were crystal clear. The hard-of-hearing members of our party also appreciated the captioning, which seems to now be a standard practice for these events.

Big movie events like this one have become very popular with symphony orchestras for obvious financial reasons. Certainly "Star Wars: A New Hope" attracted a huge, enthusiastic crowd that filled nearly every seat in Powell Hall and gave the orchestra a happy standing ovation at the end. How many of them will return to see the orchestra without a movie screen over their heads is another question, but as far as I'm concerned anything that exposes folks to the splendid playing of the SLSO is a good thing.

Next at Powell Hall: Matthias Pintscher conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and pianist Kirill Gerstein Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, February 1 and 2. The concerts will consist of Rachmaninoff's "The Isle of the Dead," Scriabin's Piano Concerto, and Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3 ("Scottish"). The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center.

Review: Ringing in the New

Pianist Behzod Abduraimov
Photo by Nissor Abdourazakov

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A gratifyingly large crowd turned out for an equally gratifying opening night of the 2018/2019 St. Louis Symphony Orchestra season (Saturday, September 22), as Resident Conductor Gemma New led the orchestra in a concert of favorites by Elgar, Grieg, and Sibelius, along with the local premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis's glorious "Musica celestis" for string orchestra (which the composer was here to witness; he got a nice curtain call afterwards).

The concert opened with a patriotic punch: an arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by John Philip Sousa and Walter Damrosch (long-time conductor of the New York City Symphony Orchestra), during which many of us sang along, and a powerful performance of Sibelius's "Finlandia." Indeed, the nuance and variety of Ms. New's approach to the latter, a work which could have been simply dashed off with what George M. Cohan called "plenty of biff and bang," set the tone for the entire evening. Both the Grieg Piano Concerto and the Elgar "Enigma Variations" that followed benefited from an approach that found a wide range of colors and emotions in these concert standards.

The talented young (born in 1990) pianist Behzod Abduraimov was the soloist for the Grieg Concerto. He delivered a striking and personal performance with an ideal mix of technical flash and sensitivity. His take on the famous first movement cadenza was especially gripping, perfectly mixing passion and poetry. On the podium, Ms. New made it possible to hear this chestnut with fresh ears, with a brisk and authoritative treatment of the famous opening theme that contrasted sharply with a luxuriant and lyrical second theme.

Gemma New

There was a romantic richness to the Adagio second movement, as well, with a robust string sound and excellent work by Thomas Jöstlein's horn section. The energetic outer sections of the finale stood in pleasing contrast to the lyrical central section, with expressive playing from flautists Mark Sparks and Ann Choomack.

The thunderous applause didn't let up until Mr. Abduraimov gave us an encore, and an impressive one it was: the third of Franz Liszt's six "Grandes études de Paganini" nicknamed "La Campanella" for the rapid bell-like figure that runs through it. It's fiercely difficult, with wide leaps for the right hand (sometimes over two octaves), but Mr. Abduraimov not only negotiated it with ease but performed the piece with feeling as well.

The second half of the concert opened with Mr. Kernis's "Musica celestis," a work of transcendent beauty. Originally the slow movement of the composer's 1990 String Quartet No. 1, the movement soon gained an independent life of its own. The title translates as "heavenly music" and to my ears it fully lives up to that title, building from a quiet opening to an ecstatic peak before fading out in the highest reaches of the strings, as though ascending to heaven.

Aaron Jay Kernis

Mr. Kernis achieves this with a striking economy of means. The work is, as the composer himself has noted, essentially a passacaglia, in which a simple descending figure first heard in the opening bars becomes the basis for a series of variations, finally leading to the ethereal coda. Mr. Kernis acknowledges the work of 12th century composer, author and mystic Hildegard von Bingen as an influence here, and I have to agree that it did put me in mind both of her vocal music and also of another more recent adaptation of it, Christopher Theofanidis's "Rainbow Body," which was performed by the SLSO to great effect a decade ago. And that, as they say, is a good thing.

"Musica celestis," as befits its origins, is scored for string orchestra, and the SLSO strings acquitted themselves brilliantly here. The quiet final moments for the work were especially powerful and the overall sound of the section was full-bodied and rich. You could also hear the string quartet origins in the solo passages played so beautifully by Concertmaster David Halen, Associate Concertmaster Heidi Harris, Principal Viola Beth Guterman Chu, and Principal Cello Daniel Lee.

The concert concluded with Elgar's musical family album, the "Enigma Variations." It's a series of fourteen variations on the "enigma" theme first stated at the very beginning. The composer said it was an "enigma" because it actually refers to "another and larger theme" which is "not played." Elgar never revealed what that theme might be and speculation has been lively but I'm inclined to go along with the school of thought that the "theme" wasn't musical at all but rather the common thread of friendship and good humor that pervades the music.

Certainly Ms. New's interpretation was brimming with warmth and, when appropriate, good humor, as well as passion and sensitivity. The opening "enigma" theme was unusually lush, the "Dorabella" variation (number 10) was the epitome of grace, and the comic eleventh variation, which depicts a bulldog tumbling into the river Wye, paddling upstream, and then emerging with a triumphant bark, was just as much fun as it should have been. The contemplative and lyrical "Nimrod" variation (number 9), which is often heard alone, had a great, reverential sweep and the finale--the composer's self-portrait--bristled with the confidence that one hears so clearly in Elgar's more popular works. It was a well balanced and sometimes surprising performance that brought the evening to a most satisfying close.

Next at Powell Hall: Hannu Lintu conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and violinist Leila Josefowicz Friday and Saturday at 8 pm, September 28 and 29. The program consists of "Flounce" by contemporary Finnish composer Lotta Wennäkoski, the Violin Concerto by composer/conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11. The concerts take place at Powell Hall in Grand Center.

Symphony Preview: What's New?

Gemma New

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's 18/19 season opens this weekend (Saturday and Sunday, September 22 and 23) with a mix of the old and the new--in more ways than one.

There's the music, to begin with. The major works on the program are old favorites: the stirring tone poem "Finlandia" by Sibelius, Grieg's tuneful Piano Concerto, and Edward Elgar's "Enigma Variations." But there's also a relatively new piece: "Musica celestis" by the prolific American composer Aaron Jay Kernis, whose credits range from the New York Philharmonic to the Walt Disney Company. It was first performed by the San Francisco Symphony in 1992 and is getting its St. Louis premiere this weekend.

And then there are the performers. The SLSO certainly counts as old, having been founded in 1880, but this weekend's piano soloist is Behzod Abduraimov, who is around the same age as Mr. Kernis' piece (Mr. Abduraimov was born in 1990). And the conductor is, to paraphrase James Bond, "New. Gemma New."

Sorry about that.

Behzod Adburaimov

Ms. New, as you probably know, was appointed Resident Conductor of the SLSO back in 2016. That means she's the Music Director of the SLSO Youth Orchestra and also works on the orchestra's various educations and community outreach concerts. Her appearance conducting a regular season concert last spring drew rave reviews--my KDHX colleague, Gary Scott, wrote that she "directed brilliantly, exhibiting poise and control"--so it will be interesting to see how she does this weekend.

I'm also looking forward to the local debut of Mr. Abduraimov. Described as "a new superstar pianist" in a 2012 NPR profile, he has had praise heaped upon him for his work in the Russian repertoire, notably Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. I couldn't find any reviews online pairing him with the Grieg concerto, although his performance this May of the piano part in Grieg's Cello Sonata in A minor was described as "understated but devastating" by the Washington Classical Review, which bodes well.

Aaron Jay Kernis

I probably can't tell you much about the two "greatest hits" on this weekend's program that you don't already know. The patriotic fervor that moved Sibelius to write "Finlandia" is well known, as is the importance of Norwegian folk influences in the Grieg concerto. Less well known is the fact that Grieg was unable to attend the premiere of the work--one of seven "interesting facts" provided by Shari Mathias in program notes for the Parker (Colorado) Symphony Orchestra earlier this year.

As for new work on the program, "Musica celestis," it started out as the slow movement of the composer's String Quartet No. 1 (also titled "Musica celestis") but soon gained an independent life of its own. The title translates as "heavenly music", as the composer observes in notes on the string quartet original:

The second movement musica celestis, is inspired by the medieval conception of that phrase which refers to the singing of the angels in heaven in praise of God without end. "The office of singing pleases God if it is performed with an attentive mind, when in this way we imitate the choirs of angels who are said to sing the Lord's praises without ceasing." (Aurelian of Réöme, translated by Barbara Newman) I don't particularly believe in angels, but found this to be a potent image that has been reinforced by listening to a good deal of medieval music, especially the soaring work of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179). This movement follows a simple, spacious melody and harmonic pattern through a number of variations (like a passacaglia) and modulations, and is framed by an introduction and codas.

Edward Elgar, circa 1900
en.wikipedia.org

The theme of the new SLSO season is "From Our Family to Yours," which makes the concluding work on the program, Elgar's "Enigma Variations," an ideal fit. Effectively a musical family album, the fourteen variations are vivid little sound portraits of Elgar, his wife, and his friends. Even a pet bulldog puts in an appearance in a comical variation (number 11) that portrays the dog tumbling down a grassy bank into the river Wye and then, according to the composer, "paddling up stream to find a landing place (bars 2 and 3) and his rejoicing bark on landing (second half of bar 5)."

The "Enigma" of the title, according to Elgar, refers to "another and larger theme" which is "not played". The composer never revealed what that theme might be and speculation has been lively ("most convincingly Auld Lang Syne," according to the late British musicologist Robin Golding in liner notes for the Sir Adrian Boult recording) but I'm inclined to go along with the school of thought that the "theme" to which Elgar referred wasn't musical at all but rather the common thread of friendship and good humor that pervades the music.

P.S.: the first concert of the season always has a celebratory air, and this time it will be accompanied by a champagne toast in the Wightman Grand Foyer at intermission.

The essentials: Gemma New conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and pianist Behzod Abduraimov Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 2 pm, September 22 and 23 (2018). The program consists of Elgar's "Enigma Variations", Grieg's Piano Concerto, Sibelius' "Finlandia," Alan Jay Kernis' "Musica celestis," and an arrangement of "The Star Spangled Banner" by Walter Damrosch and John Phillip Sousa. The concerts take place at Powell Hall in Grand Center.

Symphony Preview: On wings of song

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Einojuhani Rautavaara

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"Human music making," as music blogger Darren Giddings reminds us, "has been inspired by birdsong throughout history." If you doubt that, take a look at the program Resident Conductor Gemma New and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra will be presenting this weekend (March 23-25, 2018).

The most obvious example of this is the second work on the program this weekend: "Cantus Arcticus, Concerto for Birds and Orchestra," written in 1972 by Finnish composer Einojuhani Rautavaara. A student of Finland's most celebrated composer, Jean Sibelius, Rautavaara (as René Spencer Saller points out in her program notes) "shared with his mentor a devotion to the natural world and the pleasures of tonality." Sibelius's admiration of the sounds of birdsong never got quite as literal as Rautavaara's does in this piece, though.

Commissioned by the University of Oulu to write a work for the school's first doctoral degree ceremony, Rautavaara responded not with the expected pomp and circumstance but rather with a work of lonely, ethereal beauty that uses recordings of bird songs from Oulu and the surrounding area as a major sonic element. You can find a more detailed description of the music by Chris Morrison at Allmusic.com, but rather than just reading about it, I'd like to recommend listening to it on line before you go. There's a performance by the Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra on YouTube that includes a synchronized display of the score--which will give you a sense of just how technically challenging this music is.

The other work in which recorded birdsong plays an important role is Ottorino Respighi's "The Pines of Rome," the second in his popular trilogy of tone poems evoking the sights and sounds of his native city--including the recorded song of a nightingale. Here's the composer himself (writing in the third person) describing what he had in mind (quoted in Dr. Richard E. Rodda's program notes for the National Symphony Orchestra):

While in his preceding work, Fountains of Rome, the composer sought to reproduce by means of tone an impression of nature, in Pines of Rome he uses nature as a point of departure, in order to recall memories and visions. The centuries-old trees which dominate so characteristically the Roman landscape become testimony for the principal events in Roman life.

"Pines" opens with children playing boisterously around "The Pines of the Villa Borghese," then changes to "The Pines Near a Catacomb," where a mysterious chant begins and then suddenly stops. Then the moon rises, and the music depicts the peaceful "Pines of the Janiculum" (a hill west of Rome with a spectacular view of the city), complete with the recorded nightingale.

The last (and most spectacular) movement is "The Pines of the Appian Way." "The tragic country is guarded by solitary pines," writes Respighi. "Indistinctly, incessantly, the rhythm of innumerable steps. To the poet's fantasy appears a vision of past glories; trumpets blare, and the army of the Consul advances brilliantly in the grandeur of a newly risen sun toward the Sacred Way, mounting in triumph the Capitoline Hill." It's exceptionally thrilling music that will get the surround-sound treatment in Powell Hall this weekend, with extra brass players sounding forth from the balcony.

Erkki-Sven Tüür
Photo by Ave Maria Mõistlik 

Opening the second half of this weekend's concerts will be a 2017 work by Estonian composer Erkki-Sven Tüür in which nature also plays a major role. Co-commissioned by the SLSO, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic, "Solastalgia for Piccolo Flute and Orchestra" is described by the composer (quoted in Ms. Saller's program notes) as expressing "the distress that is produced by environmental change impacting on people while they are directly connected to their home environment":

Where I live, the impact of global climate change manifests itself in that winters are no longer winters and summers no longer summers. In my childhood it was ordinary for cars to drive to mainland on a 25 kilometer ice bridge in the winter. There was a lot of snow. And summers were so warm that swimming in the sea was the most natural thing in the world. Today's reality is that the difference between winter and summer equinoxes is often only 4 to 5 degrees. There is no place to hide from the ubiquitous environmental change caused by human activity.

At a time when, at least in this country, a depressingly large percentage of the population continues to loudly deny the reality Mr. Tüür describes in his words and his music, this piece feels very timely.

The piccolo soloist this weekend will be Ann Choomack who, when she's not playing in the SLSO flute section, is a faculty member at the Eastern Music Festival in Greensboro, North Carolina. Solo works for her instrument are not all that common, so it's good to see her take the spotlight.

The concerts will open with Rimski-Korsakov's popular "Capriccio espagnol" from 1887. Its title not withstanding, the work was actually composed entirely in Russia. "It reflects the composer's research and imagination," notes Ms. Saller "more than his travels as an officer in the Imperial Navy." It also reflects the composer's remarkable skill as an orchestrator--an area in which he was largely self-taught. He got so good at it that he went on to write a book on the subject--"Principles of Orchestration." The tome was begun in 1873 and completed posthumously by Maximilian Steinberg in 1912, who would finally publish it in 1922. The book is still available today, in both print and digital editions, from Dover Books.

The "Capriccio" is lively and colorful music, with plenty of opportunities for individual sections of the orchestra to show off, and includes a virtuoso violin solo that leads into the spirited "Fandango asturiano" finale. It should be a good high-energy start for the concert.

The essentials: Gemma New conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and piccolo soloist Ann Choomack Friday at 10:30 am, Saturday at 8 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm, March 23-25. The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center.

Review: A Holly Jolly Holiday Celebration

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
and Holiday Festival Chorus

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What with one thing and another, I haven't been feeling much in the holiday spirit lately, a situation not helped by seeing people walking around in t-shirts a week before Christmas. If that's the New Normal, get me a time machine, please.

Friday night (December 15th, 2017), though, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra came to the rescue with its annual holiday show. What with the festive music, the seasonal décor at Powell Hall, and the potent Poinsettia Punch served at the bar, I soon started feeling like a right jolly old elf.

Things got off to an exuberant start as SLSO Resident Conductor Gemma New led her forces in a lively and nuanced performance of Leroy Anderson's Christmas Festival, an ingeniously arranged collection of classic carols that I have loved ever since I played the trombone part in my high school orchestra. I dare anyone not to smile at the finale, which combines "Adeste Fideles," "Joy to the World," and "Jingle Bells" in clever counterpoint.

This was my first chance to see Ms. New when she wasn't playing second fiddle to dinosaurs, and I have to say I was very taken with her elegant and fluid style on the podium and her charm as the evening's MC. Not every conductor is comfortable with a wireless body mic, but she seemed right in her element.

Resident Conductor Gemma New

Up next were a couple of traditional carols arranged by Mormon Tabernacle Choir music director Mack Wilberg and performed, as is the case every year, by the Holiday Festival Chorus, composed of singers from area high schools. Ms. New conducted "Ding! Dong! Merrily on High" and then yielded the baton to chorus director Kevin McBeth for "Still, Still, Still." The kids sounded great, as they always do, and thanks to some fairly tasteful amplification they also were easier to hear than has sometimes been the case in the past.

Guest vocalist Doug LaBrecque took the stage next for engaging performances of "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year" (combined with "The Christmas Waltz") and "White Christmas." Mr. LaBrecque's theatrical background guaranteed a strong connection with the lyrics, and his strong tenor made his microphone a bit superfluous.

Ms. New brought the focus back to the orchestra with three all too brief selections from The Nutcracker. It was nice to have the "Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy," with an impeccable celesta solo as well as solid counterpoint from Diana Haskell and Tzuying Huang in the clarinet section, but I really wish we could have had the "Waltz of the Flowers" as well.

The Holiday Festival Chorus brought the concert's first half to a rousing conclusion with Mr. Wilberg's "Carol to the King," with its lively "fife and drum" interchanges among the flutes, trumpets, and snare drums.

The pop orientation of the concert continued in the second half, starting with a suite from Alan Silvestri's music for the film Polar Express (arrangement by Jerry Brubaker, Chief Arranger of the US Navy Band for 13 years). That was followed by something I hadn't heard before: the "Christmas Lullaby" by contemporary English composer John Rutter, who seems incapable of writing a Christmas song that isn't irresistible. If you've heard his "Donkey Carol" or Shepherd's Pipe Carol," you know what I mean.

Doug Labrecque

Mr. LaBrecque returned as well to give us smooth takes on a couple of Great American Songbook standards and to take on the narrator role in Randol Alan Bass's cinematic treatment of "The Night Before Christmas," which he did with real theatrical flair. Backed by the chorus, he also turned in a performance of Adolphe Adam's "O Holy Night" that showed off his solid low notes and wide range.

Whit Richert's irrepressible Santa made his usual appearance, bringing out a child from the audience to "conduct" the orchestra in "Sleigh Ride," and the evening concluded with "A Holly Jolly Sing-Along." It was, in short, a program as bright as the blinking lights Roger Kaza and his fellow horn players attached to their instruments and as cozy as a red Christmas sweater (which, of course, I was wearing).

Sponsored by the Mercy Health System, the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Holiday Festival continues Sunday at 2 pm, December 17, at Powell Hall in Grand Center. It's a bit less classically oriented this year than it has been in the past, but brimming with good cheer as always.

Seasonal events continue at Powell Hall, with the Bach Society's Christmas Candlelight Concert on December 19, The Music of John Williams (with David Robertson back at the podium) on December 21-23, Dreamworks Animation in Concert December 29 and 30 and, of course, the New Year's Eve Celebration (Mr. Robertson's last one as Music Director) on the 31st. They're now selling standing room tickets for that last one, which will give you some idea of how popular these holiday concerts can be.

Review: "Jurassic Park" at the St. Louis Symphony returns us to those thrilling days of yesteryear

This review originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Gemma New

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Remember when the score of a movie was there to provide emphasis at key moments rather than to act as an omnipresent background? The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra took us back to those thrilling days of yesteryear last weekend (November 3-5, 2017) with showings of Steven Spielberg's 1993 blockbuster Jurassic Park, accompanied by a live performance of the John Williams score.

Yes, the music is almost nonstop during the action-packed final moments of the movie, but there are also long stretches of unaccompanied dialog. That allows Williams's exciting and intelligent music to reinforce the action and highlight character without beating you over the head constantly. Directors of recent big-budget films should taken note.

It is, in any case, always a pleasure to hear a Williams score. Encountered in live performance, his music reveals fascinating details that can sometime go unnoticed in a theatre. Examples include the ominous use of the contrabassoon in the early scenes and the loopy music accompanying the "how we cloned dinosaurs" cartoon shown to Jurassic Park visitors. And then there's the harsh modernism that creeps into the action scenes as the chaos theory embraced by Jeff Goldbum's character proves to be all too real.

Mr. Williams's musical toolbox is, in sort, eclectic and seemingly inexhaustible -- as you might expect from someone whose involvement with the film music business extends all the way back to his days as a jazz keyboardist and film and TV studio pianist. Jurassic Park might not be his most inventive work, but it's still irresistible.

So is the film itself. Computer animation may have come a long way since Jurassic Park's digital dinosaurs wowed audiences 25 years ago, but that first appearance of the brachiosaurus is still pretty breathtaking and the velociraptors are still creepily intelligent, if scientifically inaccurate. The screenplay, adapted from Michael Crichton's book by Crichton and David Koepp, is predictable and riddled with stereotypes, and Spielberg's direction is heavily manipulative as always, but together they still produce a truly "ripping yarn," as the Brits say.

For these SLSO movie events, though, the score is the real draw. Like many big-budget films from the last few decades, Jurassic Park calls for a massive orchestra with an augmented percussion section and a full complement of brasses. Some of it also sounds rhythmically tricky, especially in the action scenes, but the band played it to perfection under the direction of Resident Conductor Gemma New.

Conducting in sync with a movie has always struck me as a demanding task, since it requires attention to the score, the orchestra, and, on a small monitor in front of the podium, a customized version of the film with "streamers" that help the conductor cue the players. Ms. New was fully in command of all her forces Friday night, though, and delivered an impressive reading of the score. I haven't had a chance to see her conduct a more conventional program yet, but I look forward to the opportunity.

Next at Powell Hall: John Storgårds conducts the orchestra along with pianist Marc-André Hamelin in music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Ravel, and Tchaikovsky Friday at 10:30 a.m, Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., November 10-12. The program features Ravel's Concerto in G and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 4.