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Berlioz, Boito, Heggie, Ambroise Thomas, Offenbach, Copland, Rodgers, and Gershwin:  Gerard Schwarz, cond., Frederica von Stade, mezzo-soprano, Samuel Ramey, bass, Seattle Symphony, Benaroya Hall, Seattle, 13.9.2008 (BJ)


Amid all the hoopla of cocktail parties and pre-concert dinners, the opening night of the season celebrated the tenth anniversary of the Seattle Symphony’s splendid Benaroya Hall, while taking note of the recent announcement that its music director will step down at the end of the 2010-11 season.

Gerard Schwarz, holder of that post since 1985, has been an inspirational leader. Instrumental in the city’s acquisition of its first purpose-built concert hall, he has developed a formerly provincial ensemble into an orchestra that challenges comparison with any in the world, and he has become a vital participant in the community’s artistic life.

Like any inspirational leader–and anyone, for that matter, who stands in front of 100 musicians every week and tells them what to do–he has had not only admirers, like this critic, but detractors too. Readers of this newspaper will not be unaware of the controversies that have shadowed his relations with some orchestra members in recent seasons.

Happily there were no signs of tension at the opening concert. Besides an ovation of unmistakable affection from the audience, it was good to see the musicians, almost to a man and woman, greet the maestro with their applause. Schwarz in his turn accorded solo bows at moments of individual excellence to David Gordon (trumpet), Seth Krimsky (bassoon), and Ko-Ichiro Yamamoto (trombone), but it was the discipline and elan of the whole ensemble that showed just how good this orchestra has become.

Truth to tell, despite the “Symphony” in the name, there was nothing symphonic about this program. Aside from three short orchestral pieces, the evening was given over to vocal music, performed by two singers who have been at the forefront of American musical life for more than three decades.

From the devilries of Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust and Boito’s Mefistofele to the majesty of Copland’s At the River and the charm of favorite duets by Rodgers and Gershwin, Samuel Ramey demonstrated that one of the finest bass voices of our time is still in resplendent estate. Frederica von Stade’s challenges were equally varied: candid beauty, in Copland’s Simple Gifts; eloquence, in Jake Heggie’s Primary colors (a much better song than the same composer’s excessively maudlin Don’t say a word); and sheer exuberance in Ah! Que j’aime les militaires, from Offenbach’s masterpiece of frivolity, The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein. Her voice is less powerful than Ramey’s, but she marshals it beautifully. And the two of them had a ball together in the Old-MacDonald-esque inanities of Copland’s I Bought Me a Cat and the insinuating wit of Rodgers’s People will say we’re in love and Gershwin’s Let’s call the whole thing off.

Among the purely orchestral pieces, the Rákóczi March from Berlioz’s Damnation of Faust, which opened the proceedings, was taken at a judiciously moderate pace–its compulsive tread is too often destabilized in performance by excessive speed. An Outdoor Overture, handsomely as it was done, is a relatively banal chip from Aaron Copland’s workbench, but we were also treated to the Waltz from Billy the Kid, which is a different matter entirely.

The ballet, a potent and affecting blend of downhome and streetwise, leavened by tenderness and a touch of cosmic awe, ranks among the finest creations of Copland’s populist phase, and the dreamily atmospheric Waltz stunningly showcased the grace and warmth of the Seattle Symphony’s string choir. Altogether, the evening underlined how hard a task the search committee will face in finding a successor to rival what Schwarz has achieved over the last quarter-century.

Bernard Jacobson

This review also appeared in the Seattle Times.


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