South Florida Classical Review

Stéphane Denève conducted the New World Symphony in a tribute to Michael Tilson Thomas Saturday night. Photo: Alex Markow

The legacy and adventurous musical spirit of Michael Tilson Thomas took center stage at  the New World Center on Saturday night as the New World Symphony presented a tribute to its late co-founder and artistic director. 

Stéphane Denève, Tilson Thomas’ successor as the orchestral academy’s guiding light, led an intelligently conceived program that both directly honored Tilson Thomas and explored one of the landmarks of the symphonic literature in an innovative manner.

Tilson Thomas was himself a composer and, appropriately, the concert commenced with his Notturno for flute, harp and strings. In a video introduction from the archives, Tilson Thomas compared the work to the 19th-century salon pieces that were loved and played by Jasha Heifetz and Gregor Piatigorsky, two musical giants that he knew and worked with.

The score is a miniature gem. The flute opens with an alluring melody, followed by leaps and trills worthy of a coloratura soprano. Demarre McGill, principal flute of the Seattle Symphony, elicited silvery purity of tone and boundless agility from his instrument, accompanied by glistening strings.

Demare McGill performed Tilson Thomas’s “Notturno” Saturday night. Photo: Alex Markow

Between selections, a video was shown of Tilson Thomas working at New World through the years. Scenes of him with renowned artists from Yo-Yo Ma, Jessye Norman and Yuja Wang to Hollywood luminaries Audrey Hepburn and Dudley Moore illustrated the ensemble’s history and his cultural vision.

The symphonies of Gustav Mahler were central in Tilson Thomas’s artistic life, and he was one of the composer’s greatest conductors. For a live performance of the Adagietto from Mahler’s Symphony No. 5, a silent film from a previous New World performance was projected above the stage of Tilson Thomas conducting the movement. Denève, conducing the musicians live,  replicated his tempos and approach to the score. The visual perspective of dual conductors was tastefully accomplished and, surprisingly in no way, distracting. More importantly, the relaxed, leisurely pacing of the movement brought forth the music’s passion and poignancy, bereft of bathos or exaggeration. Denève drew a vast range of dynamics from the softest pianissimos to full, opulent climaxes from the silken strings.

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor was a work Tilson Thomas recorded twice and revisited many times during his career, including with New World fellows. Denève told the audience that, in keeping with his predecessor’s sense of innovation, this performance would adhere to Beethoven’s original tempo markings which are radically different from most contemporary performances.

Apparently based on conductor-musicologist Jonathan Del Mar’s 1996 edition of the scorer, Denève’s reading seemed to also adhere closely to the dynamics and balances in that version and Beethoven’s manuscript. 

There has long been controversy about this approach. Were the early metronomes Beethoven utilized accurate? Did his near total deafness affect his instrumental blend and balance? Whatever one may think about those issues, the performance by Denève, the New World fellows and assembled vocal forces was exhilarating and uplifting.

With divided first and second violins on the edge of the stage, seven basses on the far left and percussion on risers at extreme right, the orchestral arrangement brought a fresh sonic immediacy. Denève directed the opening movement with taut control, the first movement emerging tense and energetic at a fast clip. String vibrato was spare, winds clear and the five horns and two trumpets impactful. 

An invigorating second movement was highlighted by a trio section true to its Molto vivace marking and the playful aura of a scherzo to delightful effect. Taken at a slightly faster tempo than usual, the Adagio molto e cantabile  emerged with greater lyricism. Brass and timpani had stormy decisiveness in the interjections that disrupt the heavenly flow of Beethoven’s discourse,

Stéphane Denève conducted the New World Symphony, soloists, and the Master Chorale of South Florida in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. Photo: Alex Markow

At the fierce opening chords of the finale, Denève had the players briefly rise (except for the cellos). As the full ensemble played a jubilant iteration of the famous “Ode to Joy” theme, the four vocal soloists and members of the Master Chorale of South Florida filed into the sides and rear of the stage on multiple levels. Some of the chorus was also seated in back and above the orchestra where audience members normally sit.

Dashon Burton’s deep bass, strong declamation and beautiful phrasing set Beethoven’s musicalization of the Schiller text in motion. The solo quartet of Ellie Dehn,  Tamara Mumford, Sean Panikkar and Burton was well balanced. Dehn’s high, free soprano and Mumford’s luxuriant mezzo cushioned the finely blended singing of the principal melody. Panikkar temporarily left the stage and reappeared on the top right riser for the Turkish march episode. Cymbal, drum and triangle players marched across the first row of audience seats as they played. Panikkar’s robust heroic tenor was equal to the high range of the vocal line.

The strength, accuracy and unanimity of the Master Chorale were the movement’s reliable fulcrum. Again, the work of Brett Karlin (in over a decade as the group’s director) paid dividends in crafting a voluminous, well-coordinated choral sonority. Taken at a breakneck pace, the movement’s final section proved rousing. Throughout the performance, the unconventional stage setting worked effectively.

A prolonged ovation followed the final bars. While this Beethoven Ninth was totally different in conception and interpretation from Tilson Thomas’ performances, it was true to his view of the New World Symphony as both an educational institution and a laboratory for artistic experimentation.

The New World Symphony repeats the program 2 p.m. Sunday at the New World Center in Miami Beach. nws.edu

Posted in Performances
No Comments