By Kathryn Olsen
Salt Lake City’s Abravanel Hall is often filled with the sounds of large-scale orchestral works, but Symphonie Fantastique, this weekend’s offering by the Utah Symphony, showcases the power of chamber music as well as the full orchestra. The concert features the last of their Brandenburg Concerto performances as well as Hector Berlioz’ renowned Symphonie Fantastique. Inserted between the two Baroque concerti is Initiale, a contemporary piece by Pierre Boulez for brass ensemble. As I am familiar with all but the Boulez piece, I was eager to see how the two halves of the performance would be linked by a common energy.
J.S. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos are small orchestral works from the early 18th Century and are widely recognized as some of the finest music composed in the composer’s era. This weekend’s concerts feature the fifth and sixth of the concertos, which require soloists on harpsichord, flute, violin, and viola. Conductor Thierry Fischer highlights the intimate ensemble by dividing the stage into three sections and only illuminating the portion where a small group of instrumentalists are hard at work.
Concerto No. 5 is a study in cooperation, where the virtuosity of the musicians is readily apparent, but none of them strive to outshine the others. The Utah Symphony has been promoting their season with the theme of their musicians being rock stars of the classical world and the soloists for these performances certainly live up to that standard. Guest artist Jeanette Sorrell deftly plays the intricate harpsichord part that drives the entire work, but is primarily there to support the violin and flute soloists. It is marvelous to hear the solo passage at the end of the first movement in which she stands alone and the audience hears that this accompanist is as precise and flawless as the other performers. Flutist Mercedes Smith and violinist Kathryn Eberle carry the main melodic lines with an effective give-and-take between the two. Bach pairs the violin with the harpsichord for the melody, but once the flute solo takes up the countermelody, the violinist beautifully explores new paths with them. The musicians who brought the fifth concerto to life tonight are able to convey the challenge and nuance that is required by this piece.
It is fitting that the Initiale follows this concerto. The brass tackle a piece by one of the pioneers of electronic music that would sound chaotic and tumbling in the hands of a less-skilled ensemble. Because there is such skill in this ensemble, however, the audience is left agreeing with the program’s assessment that the piece churns and is “almost hypnotic.” The ensemble is powerful and lively at the same time, ensuring that the audience still experiences the energy that the Bach inspired.
The final piece of this small-ensemble first half is the last of the Brandenburg concerti, in which the entire work belongs to the lower string instruments. The viola soloists are two veterans of the Symphony and well-suited to the work. Brant Bayless, the principal violist, is a commanding force who plays with great attention to the shape of the piece. He is joined by Roberta Zalkind, who plays her final concerts of her career this weekend, and her driving performance speaks to her long and dedicated career as a member of the Symphony.
The closing piece of the night is Berlioz’ epic Symphonie Fantastique. It was noted in promotional materials that when the Utah Symphony was seeking a new conductor, this was the piece that Maestro Fischer used in his successful audition. He has an undeniably personal connection to the piece, which follows the events of an artist’s life from ambition to love to demise. He is as comfortable drawing out the lilting parts of the dance movement as the ominous thunderclaps expressed by the timpanists. He is gentle with the contemplative and melancholic “In the Country” movement, but his direction of the demonic “Dream of the Witches’ Sabbath” is both compelling and transfixing. The orchestra, restored to its full force after the understated first half of the concert, shows implicit trust in letting Fischer evoke such contrasts in this piece.
There is only one performance left of Utah Symphony’s Symphonie Fantastique and this is not a program to be missed. Any lover of powerfully emotional music will find themselves thrilled by the result and it is something that can be appreciated by young and old alike.
Utah Symphony presents Symphonie Fantastique.
Abravanel Hall,123 W S Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
February 1-2, 2019 7:30 PM
Tickets: $15-73
Contact: 801-533-6683
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