The Vancouver Symphony gave a powerful and emotionally charged world premiere of Salvador Brotons’ Fourth Symphony (“Sacra”) at Skyview Concert Hall (May 20), aptly reflecting the composer’s dynamic personality. Whether descending into the depths, resting in a calm place, or ascending into the heavens, Brotons’ music conveyed a sense of motion that took the audience on a satisfying journey. It was an excellent piece with which to close out the orchestra’s 44th season.
Using seven movements from the Catholic Requiem Mass, the Symphony No 4 started with a scattershot from the woodwinds, including three piccolos playing notes that were entangled. Perhaps that was a metaphorical statement about the human condition. In any case, the entire orchestra joined in and, urged on by Brotons, amassed a muscular, massive sound - culminating with terrific blows from the timpani and bass drum – before dissipating into quietness
If anyone had fallen asleep, they were awakened with explosive percussion blasts in the Dies irae that followed. Different melodic lines created threads that suggested flames, and a constant propulsive drive from the entire ensemble climaxed to a stunning end that drew wows from the audience. Interjections from a trio of trombones dominated the Tuba mirum, which gradually slowed down to reveal glassy glissandos from the strings. The Lacrimosa offered a bleak, desolate, yet poignant lamentation that subsided into the lower strings and lowermost registers of the other instruments. The Poenas inferni featured a muted trumpet that seemed to nag the orchestra into a staggered waltz, but the trombone (played marvelously by Greg Scholl) interjected with devilishly tricky passages. Straight, non-vibrato tones whispered from the strings to open the Lux aeterna. Light, twinkly phrases from the piano and the xylophone added to the ethereal quality of the movement, which ended in a high tremolo. The Libera me surged with back and forth, exposing pizzicatos from the harp at one point, and gathered steam from all forces to conclude triumphantly.
The audience responded to the 40-minute work enthusiastically, and Brotons deserves high marks for creating a work that painted each movement with brilliant colors. In an exchange of email, I asked him if he was at work on his next symphony, and he replied that he has already written the next three! All of them are commissioned. So, Vancouver patrons will probably hear more of his creations in the near future.
Grammy-award-winning cellist Zuill Bailey gave an incisive and warm performance of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1, playing it impressively from memory. He put excellent finishing touches on his phrases and added plenty of verve when the music became agitated. He made his cello growl and finessed passages where he had to strum and play a normal note at the same time. The helter-skelter section in the third movement took things up a notch or two further with his fingers racing all over the place. Principal horn, Dan Partridge, also had a number of exceptional solos that made the piece a winner. Overall, Bailey and the orchestra gave an outstanding performance, and listeners erupted into a standing ovation.
Bailey responded with a wonderful encore, an intimate rendition of “The Song of the Birds,” a Catalan lullaby that Pablo Casals helped to make popular.
The orchestra delivered the Overture to the opera “Taras Bulba” by Ukrainian composer Mykola Lysenko with gusto. The big, sweeping melodies had lots of vim and vigor. Entries were crisp, and the trombones got to shine briefly. The splashing finale made it a snappy curtain-raiser.
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