Colin McPhee, Ravel and Copland: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Alan Gilbert, conductor, Robert Chen,concertmaster, Symphony Center, Chicago  28 .5 2007 (JLZ)
 

Intriguing programs are often the result of many factors, not the least of which is the creativity of the conductor and ensemble. At the same time, national holidays in the United States are sometimes occasions for performing music by American composers, and the celebration of Memorial Day this year coincided with the program by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra that included Aaron Copland’s Third Symphony. The concert also intersected with one of the 'Silk Road' programs that have  occurred through  the season—this is an irregular series  with music taking its inspiration from non-Western sources. As part of the Silk Road series, this particular concert included Ravel’s ballet Ma mčre l’oye (Mother Goose), with its penultimate movement entitled “The Empress of the Pagodas” and Colin McPhee’s overtly Balinese-influenced Tabu-tabuhan. Conducted by Alan Gilbert, the concert had much to recommend because of the selection of music and the caliber of the performance.

The choice of Tabu-tabuhan to open the concert was inspired for its brash and exuberant combination of Colin  McPhee’s exposition of gamelan music within the context of a multi-movement piece for two pianos and orchestra. Related to McPhee’s immersion in Bali's indigenous music Tabu-Tabuhan (1936) is a work for full orchestra, two pianos, and an expanded percussion section with several gamelan instruments. While the two pianos were situated at the center of the stage for this performance of the Chicago Symphony, Mr. Gilbert did not treat the two pianists Mary Sauer and Patrick Godon as soloists, and  placed them within the ensemble which makes this piece so intriguing. The interplay between the pianos themselves and, in turn, between the pianos and the percussion section and ultimately the rest of the orchestra, is essential to the successful execution of this piece. Mr. Gilbert achieved this very well.

Subtitled “Toccata for Two Pianos and Orchestra”, Tabu-tabuhan is a three-movement work that reflects McPhee's fascination with Balinese music. With an overtly slow-fast-slow structure, the three movements, Ostinatos, Nocturne, and Finale, each have a distinct identity and at the same time form a convincing whole. The ostinato figures  essential to the structure of the first movement , emerged clearly in this performance as the various keyboard instruments took up the pattern with which the piece began. Elements of a  figure emerging from strings and the other traditional orchestral sections supported the almost concertino-like unit of pianos, celesta, and bells. The repeated pattern of the first movement gives way to sustained sounds in the second, which draws more on the conventional orchestra. Yet the Finale is a wonderful conclusion too. Building on subdued motives at the outset, the Finale demonstrates a thorough fusion of Balinese elements with the symphonic milieu that Colin McPhee has orchestrated ably. Mr. Gilbert gave this score a fresh and exciting reading that was met with enthusiasm.

In Ravel’s Ma mere l’oye the Eastern elements are  perhaps less pronounced, but the finesse that Mr. Gilbert brought to McPhee’s score was also present in a seamless performance of this famous ballet. The Chicago Symphony was responsive to the tight ensemble that this piece requires, with the woodwinds notable for their nuanced sounds and appropriate color. The movement entitled “Conversations with Beauty and the Beast” was particularly effective, and the strings offered a lush and resonant sound. Similarly textured sonorities occurred in “The Empress of the Pagodas,” with the evocations of Orientalism nicely balanced. Mr. Gilbert gave this movement and the entire piece an effective shape, with the conclusion of the work “The Enchanted Garden” fittingly rich with reprises of themes from the previous movements.

The second part of the program was dedicated to Copland’s Third Symphony, a work the composer began in 1944 and completed two years later. It dates from the same time as Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, and if one can view that as a symphony dedicated to peace, it is possible also to consider Copland’s Third Symphony as an expression of Americanism. Devoid of jazz or overtly folk elements, as the composer stated in his own notes (reproduced in the concert program) the Third Symphony nevertheless remains one of Copland’s best-known scores. The famous “Fanfare for the Common Man” occurs at the end of the third movement and the opening of the Finale, thus giving the work an obvious and  popular appeal. Yet the other movements are equally strong in this quintessentially American work.

Mr. Gilbert played on the wonderful expansiveness of the gestures that open the first movement. Without over-stating the opening motives to which Copland returns in the finale movement, Mr. Gilbert allowed the various thematic groups to grow in intensity as the emerging sound masses he shaped gave  clues to the structure of the opening movement. He  gave similar definition to the  Scherzo by using tempi -which although fast enough - still allowed the various themes and motives to be heard clearly. The lyrical middle section of the movement was played particularly well, with the whole orchestra  nicely blending the rich colors that stand in contrast to the movement's more precise and more percussive music.

The finely polished strings of the Chicago Symphony offered a resonant sound that anchored the piece in the third movement.  The rich sound of the double reeds was notable, especially in the passage before the flute solo that Matthieu Dufour performed convincingly. Like the slow section  used to fine effect in center of the Scherzo, Copland chose a quicker tempo in the middle section of the slow movement to offer  contrast. There the more aggressive music stood out, and Mr. Gilbert allowed the dynamic levels to decrease gradually through to the movement's final section, where  anticipation of the “Fanfare for the Common Man” must not be overstated.

Mr Gilbert succeeded in giving the anticipatory theme all the necessary  clarity before the brass, timpani, and percussion sounded the famous Fanfare. The low strings added an incisive character at their entrance, with the overall effect memorably intense. Mr. Gilbert’s skillful leadership gave clarity to the contrapuntal elements of the Finale, where the various solo instruments and solo sections found their places easily within this performance. He allowed for generous dynamic contrasts in this reading, and the ostinato figures that Copland used in this movement stood out, more strongly in this concert perhaps,  because of the inclusion of McPhee’s Tabu-tabuhan at the opening of the program. The repeated patterns gave way to the overlapping blocks of sound at the end of the movement, with sometimes overwhelming resonances occurring at the work's powerful conclusion. Over sixty years after its premiere, Copland’s Third Symphony retains its modernist tone without seeming at all dated. Like a finely crafted essay, the music communicates as clearly in a fine performance like this as ever it did when the work was first performed.

All in all this was a challenging program that demanded varied approaches to the three works in it, and Alan Gilbert gave us fine readings of all of them. Each work  was carefully shaped with subtle cues and judicious anticipations that suggested a fine rapport with the orchestra. The clear structure to McPhee’s Tabu-tabuhan, subtle shaping to Ravel’s Ma mčre l’oye, and sustained vision to Copland’s Third Symphony made this was a memorable concert recognised at  end of the evening by  generous  applause from the audience. Mr. Gilbert, the soloists to whom he signaled for solo bows, and the entire Chicago Symphony deserved all of it.

 

 James L. Zychowicz