Philadelphia Orchestra's Barnes/Stokowski Festival presents Debussy and Chausson

Stéphane Denève, principal guest conductor, led the orchestra in a program of Palestrina, Chausson, and Debussy, with some engaging Bach excerpts interpreted in the style of the flamboyant Stokowski. This might be the first time I’ve ever heard one orchestra imitate the style and temperament of another (they’re both the Philadelphia Orchestra, but that is where the similarity ends). The experience, rising from Bach’s “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” and later from a Debussy prelude, proved as enlightening as it was entertaining.

Concert-drama

Didi Balle is the imaginative playwright and director who wove the story of the culture-shaping encounters between Barnes and Stokowski throughout the program. She developed the concert-drama as a new genre and has received a dozen recent commissions from symphony orchestras.

Frankly, I was expecting the music to be sensational (and it was) but was uncertain about the drama. I had no reason to demur. Everything worked, and Denève’s timing as sometimes-narrator was so meticulous he could trade in his baton for an acting gig.

Two stage-savvy actors brought the lead roles to vivid life: David Bardeen as Barnes, and Nicholas Carriere as Stokowski, replete with a “brohawk.” Paul Schoeffler brought charm and brisk pacing as Barnes’s artist friend, William Glackens, and later as a persistent reporter.

Carriere was sheer perfection as the haughty but impassioned conductor, but Bardeen had the toughest role, turning a bland businessman into a dust-devil of eager enthusiasm. He reminded me of Edward Arnold, a film actor from the 1930s and ‘40s, whose booming voice could almost wake the dead.

Outlining the mystical journey that inspired both men in the early 1900s, Deneuve opened the program with a Stokowski transcription of Palestrina’s “Adoramus te Christe.” This was followed by a spiritual sung with sincerity and deep feeling by Lindsey Reynolds. This form of expressive singing had a significant impact on Barnes as his musical sensibilities developed.

A mention of French culture brought Chausson's lyrical “Poème” for violin and orchestra. As violin soloist, David Kim surrendered his concertmaster duties for the day to associate concertmaster Juliette Kang. Kim captured the work’s many fleeting moods, sometimes pensive, often soaring, ending on a note of tranquility. Kim once again established his sure place as an interpreter and virtuoso artist.

Friendship ends

Following intermission, the play resumed with an exchange of prickly letters between the two titans, suggesting that while they may have influenced each other’s choices, the pair was ready to go their separate ways. Barnes believed more strongly in arts education, while Stokowski simply wanted to bring music to as many people as possible.

At this point, Denève, conducting without baton, led the orchestra in a Stokowski-esque rendition of Debussy’s “The Sunken Cathedral.” This rendition included the kind of low organ notes that make teeth rattle in their sockets.

The program ended with another work by Debussy, “La Mer” (“The Sea”), a three-movement evocation of all things maritime by the French master of Impressionism. Apparently, Debussy didn’t spend much time by the sea while composing this work, choosing instead to gaze on ocean art for inspiration.

In one of the dramatic sequences, Stokowski described meeting Debussy and listening to him play the piano with the continuous use of two pedals. The orchestra used this method to create a shimmering, hypnotic mélange of tones.

Revealing his deep consonance with Barnes’s essential cultural vision, Stokowski articulates one of his famous quotes: “A painter paints pictures on canvas, but musicians paint their pictures on silence.”

Denève brought out the many nuances of Debussy’s sea, painting a portrait of a spirit at once meditative and tempestuous. At times, the third movement, with its piercing trumpet and evocative flute and oboe, was as beautiful as any performance of any work I have heard by this orchestra.