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| Justin Brown and Inon Barnatan |
“A Shakespearean sandwich” was an apt description given by
guest conductor Justin Brown to describe the Oregon Symphony concert on
Saturday (November 15) at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The outer portions
of the sandwich consisted of music from Verdi’s “Macbeth” and Berlioz’s “Roméo et
Juliette.” Ravel’s Piano Concert in G major with soloist Inon Barnatan provided
the filling. This was Barnatan’s second
appearance with the Oregon Symphony, and he teamed up well with Brown, who is
the music director of the Badisches Staatsheater Karlsruhe (Germany) to give a
brilliant performance of the Ravel.
With Barnatan at the keyboard, Ravel’s Piano Concerto
shimmered with a slightly jazzy sentiment. Whether playing dizzyingly fast
passages or taking a leisurely stroll around the ivories, Barnaton knew how to
walk the fine line between classical and jazz that Ravel created for this
piece. The orchestra matched his artistry with a variety of impeccably
articulated sounds, which included brief, jazzy slurs, beautiful phrases for
the harp, crazy high notes for the bassoon and French horn, and frenetic yet impeccable
trumpeting (with kudos of principal trumpeter Jeffrey Work).
Berlioz called “Roméo et Juliette” a “dramatic symphony” rather
than an opera or a cantata. It is a large scale work for orchestra, chorus, and
soloists that lasts over 90 minutes. For its concert, the Oregon Symphony
played the orchestral excerpts, five in all, which depict some of the major
themes of the story. However, the music,
as a colleague of mine pointed out, never really moves to a minor key to bring
out the tragic sense of the story. Instead, Berlioz conveyed the events in a
different way, with dramatic shifts and glorious sonic effects. But he also got
caught up offbeat elements of the story like the Queen Mab Scherzo, which evoked
a fairy-like presence who flits about.
Overall, the orchestra, urged on by Brown, gave a
ravishingly lush account of Berlioz’s work. The wild beginning with a fight scene depicted
by the speeding strings against the grand sonority of the brass was
outstanding. The second movement, “Romeo Alone,” was filled with a sense of
yearning and featured a quartet of bassoons, terrific pizzicatos from the
cellos against a lovely passage by principal oboist Martin Hebert. The solitary
figure of Romeo suddenly transitioned into a boisterous one and the movement
ended with a bombastic depth charge for the entire orchestra plus two pummeling
sets of timpani ably played by principal percussionist Niel DePonte and principal
timpanist Jonathan Greeney. The higher strings created a foggy and mysterious
atmosphere for the third movement, “Night Scene,” while the bass section made
the sound of light footsteps. Among the many highlights of this movements were cello
section that laid down an exceptionally warm melody and principal flutist
Jessica Sindell in a lovely solo. The strings fashioned a flighty atmosphere in
the “Queen Mab Schero,” but the movement also featured hunting horns (French
horn section) and duet between the harps and low bassoons. The fifth movement, “Romeo at the Tomb of the
Capulets” roamed all over the map with dramatic pauses, plaintive calls by
Juliet (played superbly by principal clarinetist Yoshinori Nakao), a wild
explosion of sound, and two final, plucked notes at the end, signifying
death.
The concert began with an evocative performance of the
ballet music from Verdi’s “Macbeth.” The
melodious strings, the beguiling flute solo (Sindell), the wiggly trumpet line,
the noble sentiment in the duet between principal cellist Nancy Ives and principal
bassoonist Evan Kuhmann, were some of the most vivid memories from this piece.
It made me want to hear the rest of the opera.
Brown, who conducted all of the pieces without a baton, used
a very expressive and energetic style. The orchestra astutely channeled his variety
of brief gestures, including a number of signals that looked to be very
challenging to read. The great thing about this orchestra is that they do not
get rattled by much of anything. The musicians picked up on the emotional
content of Brown’s conducting and went with it. That is just another reason not
to miss any upcoming concert that this orchestra presents. Its musicians
continue to play at the topmost level, and that is just amazing.
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