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CELLO AND CLARINET HIGHLIGHT TRIO NAVARRO'S CONCERT
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Symphony
EARTHLY PLEASURES AT THE VALLEJO SYMPHONY
by Peter Lert
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Symphony
EARTHLY PLEASURES AT THE VALLEJO SYMPHONY
by Abby Wasserman
Sunday, January 19, 2025
Recital
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Chamber
NEW CENTURY'S BRILLIANT STRING PLAYING IN WEILL
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Saturday, January 18, 2025
SYMPHONIC CONTRASTS IN SRS WEILL HALL CONCERT
by Peter Lert
Saturday, January 11, 2025
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 Corey Bix and Nikola Printz Jan. 19 in Vallejo |
EARTHLY PLEASURES AT THE VALLEJO SYMPHONY
by Peter Lert
Sunday, January 19, 2025
It’s refreshing to see a resurgence in performances of the works of Mahler. Once the province only of major metropolitan orchestras, it’s now increasingly common to find Mahler symphonies on the programs of smaller regional (and, in some cases, even volunteer community) orchestras. One such professional regional orchestra is the Vallejo Symphony, its presentation Jan. 19 of the seldom performed Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth), a cycle of six songs for tenor and alto solos and full symphony orchestra, filled Vallejo’s historic Empress Theater.
In keeping with the relatively small physical setting, tenor Corey Bix and mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz were backed by a version of the score using a carefully reduced orchestration (by Glen Cortese) of only two each of the usual brass and woodwind parts, as well as a single harp and strings, rather than the dense orchestrations and massive forces more common for Mahler symphonies.
Haydn’s Symphony 31 is nicknamed the “Horn Signal,” and prior to its composition the orchestra of the composer’s patron, Prince Esterhazy, had two vacancies in its horn section. These were finally filled in 1765, and the “Horn Signal" was written in sinfonia concertante style to show off both the full section of four horns and some others among the orchestra’s virtuoso soloists. One can imagine that Haydn would have been thrilled if he’d been able to hear a performance on modern instruments. While today’s French horn is already considered among the more difficult brass instruments, the “natural" (i.e., valveless) horns of Haydn’s era could only play the same sequence of primary notes and overtones as a bugle or hunting horn unless persuaded by a skillful player, using embouchure, varied wind pressure and “stopping" (placing a cupped hand within the instrument’s bell), to produce the intermediate notes of a scale. Even then, accurate intonation, particularly in the instrument’s upper range, would have been almost impossible to achieve.
In the event, the sprightly first movement used primarily the natural horn sequence, albeit in four part harmony. The second employed more actual scales in the horns as well as solos from concertmaster Joyce Lee and cellist Isaac Pastor-Chermak. The third, in the classical Minuet/Trio format, gives the melody largely to the woodwinds over string accompaniment, and during the final recapitulation, the orchestra played the full repeats of both the first and second strains of the minuet. The last movement is a theme and variations, with solos from the first violin, horns, oboe, and cello, the latter reminiscent of Haydn’s own C and D major cello concertos. The final variation is a whimsical (but no less difficult) one on the double bass, executed with clean string crossings and thumb position intonation by bassist Andy McCorkle. The movement ends with a lively coda and final horn fanfare.
Mahler wrote Das Lied at a difficult time in his life. His daughter had died in 1907; political maneuvering and Austria’s rampant antisemitism had cost him his position as music director of the Vienna Court Opera; and he’d been diagnosed with the heart condition that would cause his death in 1911. He turned for inspiration and solace to German poet Hans Bethge’s Die Chinesische Flöte (“The Chinese Flute”), a collection of re-translations of Tang Dynasty Chinese poetry, and set six of the poems as a symphonic cycle with alternating tenor and alto soloists. Allegedly reluctant to entitle this as his ninth symphony (his superstition was that no composer after Beethoven had survived after writing nine) he entitled it a “Song Symphony" of six movements without assigning it a number. He later wrote a ninth symphony, as well as sketches for a tenth, and like Das Lied, the ninth symphony would not be performed until after his death.
The first song, “Drinking Song of the Sorrow of the Earth,” pits the tenor, singing fortissimo at the top of his range, against the full force of the orchestra, and Mr. Bix projected powerfully. His diction was clear, if sometimes overshadowed by the orchestra’s brass, but perhaps that was due to the limited size of the Empress where the stage is pushed out well beyond what would have been the cinema’s proscenium, benefiting the strings, while at its rear it was open all the way to the building’s brick rear wall with no sound-absorbing material. This definitely amplifies the trumpets and trombones seated immediately in front of it. In the second movement (“The Lonely One in Autumn”) Printz sang with excellent pronunciation and echt expressive and emotional lyricism. As a native German speaker I found the performance deeply moving.
The third movement, “Of Youth,” is much more lighthearted (it could be considered a scherzo) and allowed Mr. Bix to sing at a much more comfortable volume. The fourth, “Of Beauty,” once again allowed Printz to shine, and began with a gently flowing description of maidens harvesting lotus blossoms along the riverbank, but after an orchestral interlude transitions to a more energetic description of young men riding horses on the opposite shore, but capturing the heart of the most beautiful of the maidens. The fifth, "The Drunkard in Spring,” is a cheerful, but ultimately cynical tenor solo, the only one of the poems that’s actually written in tetrameter rhyming couplets, rather than free verse, and ends “what do I care about the spring, just let me be drunk."
In an effort to make the cycle more accessible to the audience, an English translation was presented as supertitles on a screen above the stage, but there were some issues: depending on the point in the text, lines were truncated, or squeezed onto the screen in a font so small as to make them difficult to read, and perhaps more a distraction than a benefit. I might suggest that in future concerts supertitles be reformatted to utilize the full height and width of the screen, with someone familiar with, and following the score to control the rate at which they scroll past.
“The Farewell,” the final movement, is as long as the first five together, and expresses both sadness at parting but ultimately (with final lines written and added by Mahler himself) ends with the conviction that “The dear earth everywhere blossoms in spring and grows green anew! Everywhere, and forever blue, is the horizon. Forever…Forever…” Printz’s delivery of that phrase “Ewig…Ewig…" and the final fading bars of the orchestra were the perfect ending to a demanding. It was a sensitive, emotional, and beautifully played and sung concert, deftly paced by conductor Marc Taddei, and one that makes one wondering why it’s not more frequently presented.
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