By David Williams
For the Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra closed its classical concert season with an uneven performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, "Choral," Friday night at the Clay Center. The conductor, Grant Cooper, who is usually so sure and reliable in classical-era works, seemed to miscalculate balances throughout the first two movements of the piece.
Strangeness ensued.
On the one hand, the ensemble's playing was rhythmically energetic and focused. The hushed opening of the piece was dramatic, but the outburst of the full orchestra that followed sounded unbalanced, with the string tone swamping the woodwinds and horns.
This continued in the intricate passages in the development and recapitulation. When the volume increased, balances between sections did not sound true.
Similar oddities permeated the scherzo. Cooper had Beethoven's great surging waves of rhythm flowing and the vast formal expanse of the movement was nearly pristine in detail. Except for the spots where the woodwinds were too covered in the second theme.
The trio, one of Beethoven's wonders, glowed, from the opening passage in the reeds through sunlit strings and the trombone chords that bolster the close.
The double variations of the slow movement, where two themes are set out in succession and then varied in succession, may have been the highlight of the performance. Cooper struck a measured pace, so the music sounded expansive but not slow. The orchestra played with lithe phrasing and generous colors.
By David Williams
For the Gazette-Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- The West Virginia Symphony Orchestra closed its classical concert season with an uneven performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, "Choral," Friday night at the Clay Center. The conductor, Grant Cooper, who is usually so sure and reliable in classical-era works, seemed to miscalculate balances throughout the first two movements of the piece.
Strangeness ensued.
On the one hand, the ensemble's playing was rhythmically energetic and focused. The hushed opening of the piece was dramatic, but the outburst of the full orchestra that followed sounded unbalanced, with the string tone swamping the woodwinds and horns.
This continued in the intricate passages in the development and recapitulation. When the volume increased, balances between sections did not sound true.
Similar oddities permeated the scherzo. Cooper had Beethoven's great surging waves of rhythm flowing and the vast formal expanse of the movement was nearly pristine in detail. Except for the spots where the woodwinds were too covered in the second theme.
The trio, one of Beethoven's wonders, glowed, from the opening passage in the reeds through sunlit strings and the trombone chords that bolster the close.
The double variations of the slow movement, where two themes are set out in succession and then varied in succession, may have been the highlight of the performance. Cooper struck a measured pace, so the music sounded expansive but not slow. The orchestra played with lithe phrasing and generous colors.
The vast choral finale drew on the combined choruses of the orchestra and Marshall University (both prepared by their conductor, David Castleberry) and that of West Virginia University (prepared by its conductor, Jeffry Johnson).
Beethoven's choral writing is extremely difficult, intricate and more like instrumental writing than vocal. The choruses sounded solid and comfortable with only a bit of strain in the climactic final passages.
The four soloists get more of the challenging vocal material. Soprano Angela Szpak, mezzo-soprano, Jan Wilson, tenor John Allen and bass baritone, John Shuffle worked well as a quartet. Szpak's ability to climb into the upper range against a robust orchestral volume was impressive. Shuffle sang with power in the recitative passage that sets the choral forces in motion. Allen gets the fun stuff, the dazzling military march that pops up as the second theme. He sang with assurance.
The mezzo must avoid getting swamped by all that goes around her. Wilson sang well.
Cooper had no problems with balances here, and he shaped the performance so formal details were forceful.
Fifteen-year-old pianist Christian Smith, holder of the orchestra's Student Symphonic Fellowship, played Chopin's Scherzo, Op. 31 and Liszt's arrangement of Paganini's "Campamella" to start the concert.
He was fighting nerves -- no big surprise -- but played with real virtuosic skill. "La campanella" was liquid and colorful.
The concert drew a crowd of 1,300. It repeats tonight at 8 p.m.
