Review: May Festival resumes with inspiring performances
James Conlon capped his 35th anniversary as May Festival music director by conducting back-to-back blockbuster masterpieces of Beethoven and Mahler.
On Friday, fresh off their triumphant performance in New York's Carnegie Hall, the Cincinnati May Festival launched the season's second weekend with a majestic reading of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, "Choral." As the Music Hall audience rose with ovations at its conclusion, it was clear once more that Beethoven's Ninth, with its universal message of brotherhood and hope, continues to inspire.
And small wonder, given this inspiring performance. Conlon propelled the 150-voice chorus, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and four superb soloists with intensity, drive and emotion.
The concert – which repeats on Sunday – also included what the conductor called "a novelty" – Tchaikovsky's rarely-played "Ode to Joy" Cantata.
A week after appearing in Carnegie Hall, the chorus sounded fresh and precise in Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor's "Ode to Joy" finale, the famous setting of Schiller's texts. Prepared by Robert Porco, the chorus sang with clarity and brought expressive color to every word, despite demanding extremes of register and dynamic.
The soloists, too, were exceptional. Tenor Rodrick Dixon, who stepped in at the 11th hour for an ill Brandon Jovanovich, sang powerfully in his great tenor solo and ensembles. The quartet – Dixon, soprano Erin Wall, mezzo-soprano Sara Murphy and bass Kristinn Sigmundsson – was well-matched. The standout was Wall, who in her festival debut soared easily and with lovely timbre into the stratosphere of Beethoven's impossibly high parts.
Leading without a score, Conlon led the symphony's movements in a seamless arc, balancing passages of pastoral warmth against those of heaven-rending power. The scherzo projected an earthy, Viennese character, and its pointed rhythms ricocheted like lightning across the orchestra.
The musicians responded with precise, expressive playing and the performance benefited from the hand-crossing virtuosity of principal timpanist Patrick Schleker.
One of the high points was the sublime Adagio (slow movement). Here, Conlon projected a spiritual feeling but kept the momentum flowing. And who could ever forget the arresting sound of the cellos and basses in the "recitative"-like passage leading up to the choral finale. Conlon whipped up an exciting finish, and listeners were on their feet.
To open Friday's concert, Conlon led the forces and soloists in Tchaikovsky's "Ode to Joy," an early graduation piece. Although it lacks sophistication, it offered glimpses of the genius that was to come.
Like Beethoven's Ninth, its text was by Schiller, but it was sung in Russian. It was a jolt to hear the chorus exclaim "Radest" instead of "Freude" (both mean "joy"). Choral textures were full-blooded and the chorus sang the Russian words fervently. There were some ragged moments in the orchestra, but the overture was top-rate.
Magnificent Mahler
On Saturday, at the stunning conclusion of Mahler's vast Symphony No. 8, "Symphony of a Thousand," the performers were cheered by a nearly full house for bow after bow following their monumental performance.
It was a striking finale to this celebratory season, the 141st year of the festival. The spectacle of some 500 performers on Music Hall's stage and balconies was something to behold. Besides an expanded orchestra (including nine horns, two harps, piano and organ), the May Festival Chorus was augmented by the Nashville Symphony Chorus (Kelly Corcoran, director).
The Cincinnati Children's Choir (Robyn Lana, director) was stationed in a balcony, and brass choir blazed away on cue in another. Seven of the eight operatic soloists were stationed on a platform between chorus and orchestra.
Friday's soloists were joined by soprano Tracy Cox, mezzo-soprano Ronnita Nicole Miller, baritone Donnie Ray Albert and soprano Amanda Woodbury (a University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music graduate and a winner of the 2014 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions).
Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand," written in 1906, is an epic hymn to the 20th century. Its sprawling, 80-minute canvas for huge forces is a last gasp of romantic excess. Mahler's universe includes triumphant marches, heaven-storming brass, choral outbursts and operatic scenes. Broadly stated, it is a grandiose statement of humanity's quest for meaning.
The composer divided his choral symphony into two parts. The first is an ecstatic hymn based on the Latin "Veni Creator Spiritus." The second is the final scene from Goethe's "Faust." Its challenges are daunting, but Conlon made sense of its massive scope, vividly conveying both the mystery and the grandeur of Mahler's music.
The chorus burst onto the opening "Veni Creator Spiritus (Come, Creator Spirit) with thrilling power. They sang consistently with fine enunciation, despite the large numbers. Conlon kept the forces taut and propelled tempos energetically to the stirring double fugue at the climax of the movement.
Perhaps due to the vast forces, the soloists were sometimes covered by the orchestra. Still, Wall projected a glorious sound as her voice sailed over the ensemble.
Part II opened with a bare orchestral canvas, and Conlon cultivated a dark, mysterious atmosphere. The chorus' clipped enunciation of "Waldung, sie schwankt heran" (Forest sways), against the beautifully phrased oboe of Dwight Parry, added to the mood.
The soloists were excellent. Dixon, again stepping in, sang with operatic flair, even as he navigated difficult high ranges in the role of Doctor Marianus. Albert was magnificent as Pater Ecstaticus, projecting power and nobility, while Sigmundsson brought depth to his lines as Pater Profundus.
The two sopranos, too, sang with beauty, and Cox displayed a voice of brilliance as she soared through orchestral textures as Gretchen. The two mezzos were equally fine. And stationed high in the gallery, Woodbury floated her celestial voice out over the hall with moving beauty.
The well-trained Children's Chorus added notes of angelic purity. The final chorus, "Alles Vergängliche" (All things transitory), was transcendent, beginning with hushed tones and building to its majestic climax.
As in festivals past, herald trumpets rang out in the lobbies, and small children delivered their bouquets to the soloists at the end of each concert. During this entire festival, Conlon has led Handel's "Hallelujah Chorus" at the end of each evening (rather than just the finale) and the crowd has approved with lusty singing.
Beethoven's Ninth repeats at 2 p.m. Sunday (today) in Music Hall. Tickets: $10 special offer: 513-381-3300, www.mayfestival.com.