Kenneth Herman

San Diego Arts

Seattle Symphony at Copley Hall

Salerno-Sonnenberg adds Welcome Sizzle to Concert
By Kenneth Herman
Posted on Sun, Apr 13th, 2008
Last updated Wed, Apr 16th, 2008

American conductor Gerard Schwarz has enjoyed a lengthy tenure as music director of the Seattle Symphony, although from a front-page New York Times exposé earlier this year of player discontent in Starbucks City, perhaps the verb "enjoy" is a questionable choice. At the Seattle Symphony's Copley Hall concert Friday evening (April 11), however, the orchestra was the picture of discipline and unfailing response to their maestro. If there was trouble aboard ship, none of us passengers could detect it from the crew.

For a program of ripe Romantic offerings, the players displayed an appropriately warm, friendly sonority, bolstered by an unflappable synchronicity, an eager engagement with the changing moods of the music, and a beautifully calibrated balance within each section of the orchestra. These traits were immediately evident in the opening set of excerpts from Wagner's "Die Meistersinger," including the Third Act Prelude and the stately "Procession of the Meistersingers." Seattle's mid-range strings were particularly mellow, and the entire brass choir displayed that top-to-bottom blended timbre that you usually only hear in a top-notch brass quintet.

Schwarz balanced his rather conservative programming by choosing violinist Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg to play the Max Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 in G Minor. Although she is not the firebrand she was when she first appeared on the music scene in the 1980s, she retains a fresh zeal for these warhorse concertos without the annoying quirks her younger colleagues bring to the stage: no flamenco-inspired foot-stomping in the furious sections and no outlandish outfits that appear to be rejects from last year's Paris fashion scene. In fact, her black toreador pants and white sleeveless blouse said this is not a fashion parade--this is just about the music!

When Bruch was restrained, Salerno-Sonnenberg was eloquent and inviting, always hinting at a level of passion lurking just beneath the surface. When she let that tiger out of its cage, her aggressive attack and prowess left no doubt as to who was in charge. The supple contours of her melodic lines and her delicious portamentos made the Adagio movement extraordinary, and I particularly admired the strength and gleaming quality of her sound throughout the entire range of the instrument. Schwarz wisely followed her lead and provided solid orchestral support equal to her dramatic flights.

Where would touring orchestras be without all of those flashy Richard Strauss tone poems that use every member of the orchestra and give each principal player a chance to show off a bit (or even a lot in some cases)? Schwarz chose Strauss' youthful "Don Juan" as the Seattle showpiece, and every flourish, including that trademark rocket at the opening, came off without a blemish. Oboist Ben Hausmann provided several dreamy solos, as did the sweet-toned Concertmaster, Maria Larionoff . Nothing in the score escaped the maestro's notice--this was a piece ready for the competition judges' red pencils, which meant that some spontaneity was sacrificed for surface sheen. But is not often local audiences have the opportunity of hearing such a fussy, demanding score performed with this level of perfection: the advantage of a tour's multiple performances easily overtakes the limitations of resident orchestras' tight rehearsal schedules and short, weekend performance runs.

Evidently deciding that if some Strauss is good, more Strauss must be better, Schwarz completed the program with his own Suite from the opera "Der Rosenkavalier." Faithful program annotator Eric Bomberger observed that because of its compositional style, this opera, with the exception of its hummable waltzes, does not lend itself to easy excerpting. Unfortunately, Schwarz proved this point all too well. In addition to the waltzes, which Schwarz executed with little empathy for their characteristic Viennese rhythmic subtlety, the Suite was a longish compilation of assorted dramatic confrontations and farcical incidents. Instead of spending half an hour with the elegant Marschallin and her entourage, we were locked in a room with her oafish country cousin, Baron Ochs.

From the podium, Schwarz announced an encore, Bright Sheng's "Black Swan." After an evening of late Romantic effusion, some refreshing sounds of the acclaimed contemporary Chinese composer would have been tonic. However, this was not a Sheng composition, but rather his arrangement of Brahms' piano Intermezzo in A Major, Op. 118, No. 2. This was all Brahms and not a note of Sheng. What was the point?

About the author: Kenneth Herman began his writing career as a music critic for the San Diego Union-Tribune and covered classical music for the San Diego Edition of the Los Angeles Times (1982-1992). He wrote "A History of the Spreckels Organ." and is currently Music Director/Organist for the First Unitarian Universalist Church of San Diego and conducts the 60-voice San Diego Youth Choir.
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