Review: Leonard Slatkin brings home the passion of Berlioz's "Romeo et Juliette" Friday and Saturday, March 11 and 12, 2016

Leonard Slatkin
Photo: Alexander Ivanov / leonardslatkin.com

Even if I hadn't seen the video blog in which St. Louis Symphony Conductor Laureate Leonard Slatkin named Berlioz's 1838 Roméo et Juliette, Symphonie dramatique (op. 17) as one of his favorite works to conduct, I would have guessed as much from the fierce joy and commitment of the interpretation he gave this monumental work with the SLSO Orchestra and Chorus Friday night (March 11, 2016). If you'll pardon the expression, he and his forces completely killed it.

If you've never seen this remarkable mashup of symphony, oratorio, and opera performed live—and there's a good chance you haven't, given what a big undertaking it is—I hope you had a chance to experience this. With over 100 musicians on the stage and over 80 (by my count) in the chorus, this is a work which, while massive in scope, has moments of real delicacy and intimacy. Maestro Slatkin's interpretation was beautifully shaped and dramatically compelling, and the musicians played and sang with real perfection.

Tenor Sean Panikkar's description of Queen Mab in the second movement's "Grande fête chez Capulet" (essentially, "big party the Capulet's place") was delightfully droll. Mezzo Kelley O'Connor expertly captured the ecstasy of young love in the first movement's "Strophes," assisted by Allegra Lilly's flowing harp. And bass Renaud Delaigue was the passionate voice of morality in the imposing choral finale. Both the full chorus and the smaller chamber chorus that is featured in the first two movements sang with the power and clarity I have come to expect from them.

Maestro Slatkin's interpretation got off to a dramatic start, adopting a strikingly brisk tempo for the opening "Combats" section, which portrays the war between the Montagues and the Capulets with rapid-fire thrusts and parries from the strings and brasses. It proved to be emblematic of an overall approach that brought out all the drama in Berlioz's music.

The orchestra responded with some of the finest playing of the season, from the unearthly violin harmonics in the famous "Queen Mab" scherzo that makes up the fourth movement to the powerful brass declarations that announce the intervention of the Prince in the first. There were many impressive solo passages as well, such as Jelena Dirk's haunting oboe melody in the "Tristesse" ("sadness") section of the second movement and Principal Clarinet Scott Andrews's dramatic depiction of Juliet's awakening in the sixth movement.

The SLSO's Roméo et Juliette is history now, but the season continues this Friday through Sunday (March 18-20) as Jun Märkl conducts a program the features Schumann's Symphony No. 2 ("Rhenish") and Beethoven's Violin Concerto with Concertmaster David Halen as soloist. There's also a Pulitzer Series concert Wednesday at the Pulitzer Arts Center. For information these and other upcoming SLSO events, check out the web site.

Move heaven and earth - but slowly

Mezzo Kelley O'Connor
Photo by Dario Acosta

Who: The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and Chorus
What: Barber’s Prayers of Kierkegaard and Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”)
Where: Powell Symphony Hall, St. Louis
When: April 8 through 10, 2011

The ranting of wealthy and powerful fundamentalists and their political and media enablers aside, there’s no getting around the fact that the central message of Christianity is one of mercy, forgiveness, compassion, and love. This weekend’s St. Louis Symphony concerts offered a pair of powerful musical reminders of that message. The fact that one came from the pen of an Austrian Jew who converted to Catholicism out of professional expediency and the other from a gay American man is probably another illustration of how outsiders often see the truth more clearly than members of the tribe.

The big draw for these concerts, of course, was the Symphony No. 2 (“Resurrection”) by Gustav Mahler. For me, however, the most compelling moments came from Samuel Barber’s rarely heard Prayers of Kierkegaard from 1954. A setting for large orchestra, chorus, and multiple soloists (soprano, alto, and tenor) of four of the many original prayers by Christian existentialist philosopher Søren Kierkegaard (1813 – 1855), Prayers pays homage to both Gregorian monophony and Baroque polyphony while remaining true to Barber’s late-Romantic musical language. It’s a fascinating and complex piece that makes a convincing case for Kierkegaard’s emphasis on the primacy of each individual’s experience of Divine love, without the clutter of organized religion.

Under the baton of David Robertson, the orchestra and chorus delivered a rock-solid performance. The choral writing sounded complex and tricky, which made the clarity and enunciation with which it was sung that much more impressive. The soloists – soprano Christine Brewer, alto Debby Lennon, and tenor Keith Boyer – all did fine work, although Ms. Brewer seemed a bit uncomfortable in her lower register.

This is only the second time the symphony has undertaken this remarkable work and the first time under Mr. Robertson’s direction. I hope he felt as much satisfaction conducting this performance as I did hearing it.

The Mahler was, I’m sorry to say, somewhat less satisfying. The “Resurrection” Symphony has long been a favorite of mine, going back to my first encounter with the classic Otto Klemperer recording from early 1960s. A kind of Mahler multivitamin, the “Resurrection” contains all the key elements of the Viennese master’s work: moments of chamber-music delicacy alternating with massive orchestral outbursts, vulgar marches, lilting Ländler, a darkly comic scherzo, and passages of sublime beauty, and an ecstatic choral finale of overwhelming power. And yet, in the musical equivalent of alchemy, Mahler's sense of architecture somehow transmutes it all in to a single, unified work that brilliantly encompasses the themes of death, rebirth, and transcendence.

Personally, I missed the transcendence. As was his wont that last time he conducted this work (in 2007), Mr. Robertson favored a loving emphasis on orchestral details coupled with tempi that were somewhere between slow and plodding. Individual moments (especially in the second movement) took on a crystalline clarity as a result, but so did the joins in Mahler’s somewhat episodic musical architecture. The work came to a complete standstill far too often for me, I’m afraid, despite first-rate work from all the performers.

Christine Brewer, looking and sounding revived and re-energized, once again served as soprano soloist, backed up by mezzo Kelley O’Connor – utterly compelling in the “Urlicht” (“Primal Light”) setting that begins the symphony’s fourth movement. Amy Kaiser’s Symphony Chorus sounded splendid once again.

In brief remarks before the symphony began, Ms. Kaiser noted that this weekend’s performances were dedicated to the late Richard Ashburner, long a member and supporter of the chorus. Their work was a fitting tribute to their former colleague.

A great Mahler 2nd – such as the one Leonard Slatkin did with the SLSO back in 1982 (happily still available on CD) – never fails to move me to tears in those final glorious moments of spiritual rebirth. This one left me impressed with the virtuosity of the players and clarity of Mr. Robertson’s artistic vision, but it left me dry-eyed as well.

Next up on the symphony schedule: Maestro Robertson conducts Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 and Tchaikovsky’s ever popular Piano Concerto No. 1, with Yefim Bronfman at the keyboard April 15 through 17. For more information, you may call 314-534-1700, visit slso.org, or follow @slso on Twitter.