Orchestra plays Brahms and Berlioz (2nd review)

To satisfy my curiosity— and also to see the musicians toward the rear of the stage, something that’s impossible when you sit downstairs— last weekend I exchanged my usual Philadelphia Orchestra ground-floor seats at Verizon Hall for the first balcony.

The concluding work on this program begged for this vantage point. Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique includes many passages for flute, clarinet, oboe and bassoon, as well as prominent interjections by brass. I wanted to see the faces of those players for a change, and maybe even observe their fingerings.

Indeed, the orchestra looks much better from this elevated angle. Every player can be seen clearly. Their instruments are more visible too, and it was fun to see the contrasting colors of the tubas— Carol Jantsch’s distinctive silver-plated instrument next to David Zerkel’s more-familiar golden brass tuba. (The fingerings of many wind players, on the other hand, were partially blocked by their music stands.)

The sound was clear and the separate choirs were well defined. But I couldn’t say that the quality is in any way better from above. The strings actually deliver less volume than what I hear when I sit downstairs, perhaps because the front of the balcony is further from the stage than my regular seats, which are about halfway back on the orchestra level.

Also, the strings are seated distantly from the rear wall of the stage. If that wall were closer, it might reflect their sound outwards.

Ahead of his time

Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique is a showpiece that features passages for almost every section of the orchestra and doubles some of the sections, such as the tubas and the harps. It never ceases to amaze me that Berlioz wrote this piece when he was in his 20s, and he started it while Schubert and Beethoven were still alive. What’s more, its 1830 premiere occurred three years before Brahms was born.

In other words, Berlioz created this unusual and forward-looking tone poem in the midst of the classic Romantic period. The mass of instruments he used was closer to what Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss would use in the early part of the next century, and Berlioz included dissonances that were way ahead of his time.

Unexpected replacement

Michael Tilson Thomas conducted the program as an unexpected replacement for Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who suffered a sinus attack and stayed home in Montreal on his doctor’s orders. Tilson Thomas, of course, is a welcome figure in Philadelphia since his first gust conducting appearance here in 1971. He’s also an old hand with the Symphonie Fantastique, which he recorded for RCA with his San Francisco Symphony. He was relaxing at his home in Miami when the Philadelphia Orchestra contacted him for what turned out to be a memorable match of conductor and orchestra.

His textures were transparent, nicely exposing Berlioz’s dissonances. His dynamics were subtly shaded, especially during the repeats in the waltz movement. The hushed sound of the strings led to an impressive contrast when the brass came blazing in during the "March to the Scaffold" and the concluding "Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath."

The vital woodwind solo passages were gorgeously performed by flutist Jeffrey Khaner, oboist Richard Woodhams, clarinetist Ricardo Morales and bassoonist Daniel Matsukawa. This was a remarkable rendition, as fine a Fantastique as I’ve heard.

To read another review by Peter Burwasser, click here.

http://www.broadstreetreview.com/music-opera/helene-grimaud-tackles-brahms