Principal Guest Conductor Jun Märkl marvelously explored the world of dreams via several gems from the French repertoire in the most recent series of Oregon Symphony concerts. If only we could have had a couch on stage with Debussy, Chausson, or Berlioz reclining on it while their music was performed. Oh, and Tōru Takemitsu too. As Märkl explained in his introductory remarks (May 18) at the Arelene Schnitzer Concert Hall, perhaps our dreams allow us to get in touch with real emotions, which sometimes come out of a quiet place. That was especially the case in the first half of the show with Debussy and violinist Carolin Widmann’s playing of Takemitsu and Chausson. Sometimes the emotions don’t come out a of a quiet space, which was evident in the second half with Berlioz’s “Symphonie fantastique,” one of the greatest dream-to-scream rollercoaster rides ever written.
Making her debut with the Oregon Symphony, Widmann cast a spell with an evocative performance of Takemitsu’s “Far Calls. Coming, Far!” The award-winning German alternated smoothly between straight, glassy tones and tones that had some vibrato. Sometimes her lines arced high about the sustained, low drone from the orchestra, and she executed a terrific cadenza that seemed to fly hither and yon. The piece seemed to emerge at times out of nothing and then acquire a shimmering quality that was almost mystical.
Chausson’s “Poème” received a lovely, meditative performance by Widmann and the orchestra. She conveyed lovely melodic themes that transitioned seamlessly from introspective passages to those that were more extrovertedly rhapsodic. The piece ended with Widmann extending an elegant and fairly wide vibrato, which gracefully suggested an expanding vastness before it vanished.
Märkl’s graceful podium style worked effortless wonders in Debussy’s “Prélude à l’Après-midi d’un faunet” (“Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun”). Conducting from memory, Märkl deftly elicited the colors and sensations of a legendary half-man-half-beast creature and his midday musings. The wandering lines from the flute (Martha Long) amidst tinkling bells marvelously conveyed the idyllic ambiance.
Led by Märkl, the orchestra superbly expressed the extreme emotional ups and downs of unrequited love in the “Symphony fantastique.” Wonderfully shaped phrases from the strings in first movement, ‘Reveries and Passions’ with tempestuous interruptions – followed at one point by the double basses descending into the basement of the soul but finishing with the orchestra going full blast – revealed the tumultuous state of the main character who has fallen in love. In the second movement, ‘A Ball,’ the orchestra created a beguiling waltz that concluded in a swirl of hope. The third movement, ‘In the Country’ was perfectly played with Assistant Principal Oboe Karen Wagner sitting somewhere in the far reaches of the upper balcony, exchanging phrases with English Horn Benjamin Brogadir. The entire orchestra swung into action – two sets of timpani, two big bass drums, four bassoonists, full brass section – with gusto (Principal Tuba JáTtik Clark exuding the raspiest of low notes) in the third movement, ‘March to the Scaffold.’ The musicians expertly created the jeering, mocking, and scary sounds in the fourth, ‘Dream of the Witches’ Sabbath’ with Principal Percussion Michael Roberts tapping the two huge bells – rented from the Dallas Symphony – positioned in the loft above the orchestra. The sound of the bells was a bit too piercing, but perhaps that would be sort of how you would hear it if you were on a drug-induced trip (reflective of the circumstances of the main character in the music’s storyline).
Märkl, directing the hour-long work from memory, was in his element. He was at the helm that last time that the orchestra performed this masterpiece. Märkl’s website shows his complete discography, but it does not include the “Symphony fantastique.” Hmm, a recording with the Oregon Symphony would be just the thing…
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