By Robert Croan
Placing the works of the Frenchman Hector Berlioz (1803-69) and the German Richard Strauss (1864-1949) side by side, as the South Florida Symphony Orchestra did in this season’s third Masterworks concert (seen Feb. 12 at The Parker), makes good sense, although the two composers were stylistically and geographically disparate, and only barely overlapped in their lifespans.
Both, however, were pivotal figures in the development of the modern orchestra; Berlioz wrote a seminal treatise on instrumentation and orchestration, published in 1844, which Strauss updated (and essentially rewrote) six decades later. In addition, each composer in his own orchestral music transformed the classical symphonic form by adding non-musical, literary elements — known in Berlioz’s musical output as program symphonies, in Strauss’s as tone poems.
The best part of this concert, led by conductor Sebrina Maria Alfonso, was the second half, which opened with Berlioz’s King Lear overture. This work does not introduce Shakespeare’s play, nor an opera based on it. It’s a sound portrait of the central plot elements and characters — in effect, a tone poem. Not one of this composer’s stronger works, it’s a rambling sequence of unintegrated tunes, ear-catching for their array of instrumental colors and combinations.
Under Alfonso’s clear baton and robust rhythmic beat, however, the performance was utterly engaging throughout its 15-minute duration. The extra-musical elements describing various characters and sentiments came through surprisingly well, thanks in part to the conductor’s cogent and persuasive spoken introduction. The hefty low strings in unison portraying the title character at the start were particularly effective, as were the plangent oboe solos of Paul Chinen embodying the sympathetic daughter Cordelia.
Richard Strauss’s Don Juan is one of the great works of the modern orchestral canon, about the same length as the Berlioz overture, but every second engrossing and original — a youthful work bearing the complete stamp of the great creator Strauss was yet to become.
Alfonso visibly reveled in the exuberant inaugural representation of the title character and his escapades. She is an artist who so obviously loves what she is doing, that her music-making instantly summons the listener into her realm. The players themselves also seemed to pick up her enthusiasm here, with an electricity in the air that extended to every player but was especially evident in the virtuoso French horn playing — the entire section, but notably, principal Davide Fanchin. Strauss’s father was a horn player in the Munich Opera Orchestra, which may explain why these horn solos contain an added element of virtuosity and display.
It was admirable for SFSO to program Strauss’s glorious Four Last Songs, the major work on the first half. Written a year before the composer’s own death and premiered posthumously in 1950, these soaring outpourings for soprano and orchestra include three settings of poems by the early-20th century German poet Hermann Hesse (“Spring,” “September” and “Going to Sleep”), all parables for the cycle of life and death, along with one lyric by the 19th-century poet Joseph von Eichendorff (“In Twilight”). The music is Strauss at his very best, in which the vocal lines underline the words and the orchestra illustrates the emotions. They demand great interpreters, however, and the result here was uneven.
Soloist Amy Shoremount-Obra has a gorgeous voice, a soprano of Wagnerian proportions — appropriate for this music, which was composed with the proto-Wagnerian Kirsten Flagstad in mind. She has presence on stage and a solid technique: a bright sound that is even from top to bottom, and a focused placement that projects easily above the massive orchestra accompaniment. What was lacking in her performance was the ability to color the words for their meaning. Her vowels were pure, but the consonants were mostly unintelligible, resulting in a mush of sound that was beautiful on its own, but insignificant in conveying the poets’ intentions.
Huifang Chen’s violin solo in “Going to Sleep” soared exquisitely, but the vocalist’s repetition of the same phrase remained stolid and earthbound. Her final exhortation, “Is this perhaps death?” come across neither profound nor fearsome. Conductor Alfonso did yeoman’s work in keeping the orchestra in mostly precise sync with the singer, and bringing out lovely intermittent instrumental details.
It was also unfortunate that SFSO did not include texts and translations in the printed program, or projections, which would have given an audience unfamiliar with the songs some sense of what they are about.
Also prosaic rather than uplifting was the popular waltz by the “other” – unrelated – Strauss, Johann Strauss II’s On the Beautiful Blue Danube, which served as a warmup for the musicians at the beginning of the evening. It hardly mattered, however, as the familiar tunes put the audience in a good mood, and the performances improved consistently as the evening progressed.