~ Author: Oberon
Tuesday April 30th, 2024 - Nathalie Stutzmann (above) presiding over The Philadelphia Orchestra in works by Robert Schumann and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at Carnegie Hall. This was a concert I'd been looking forward to for months; it was gorgeously played, but the Schumann seldom reached me on a spiritual level. The Mozart of course did, but not as deeply as it might have.
Ms. Stutzmann is, for me, one of the finest conductors of our time. I love watching her on he podium, so thoroughly into the music and drawing such luminous sounds from the players. My friend Ben Weaver thought some of her tempi were too speedy, whereas I thought they were exhilarating.
Schumann's 4th symphony is very pleasant music to hear, and tonight it was sumptuously played; but for me, it lacks emotional depth. Seldom, if ever, does it elicit the involuntary spine-tingling response that tells me the composer has something deeper to say to us.
From its weighty opening chord, a darkly pensive mood is established; Maestro Stutzmann conjures up a rich blend of colours from her musicians as major and minor passages alternate. A sense of grandeur develops. In the Romanze, a sad song is heard, with the strings prominent.The Scherzo is boisterous rather than sprightly, and it leads to a lyrical interlude before re-bounding. There is a slow buildup to the finale, by turns ebullient and poetic, with a passing fugue, and the horns blazing away.
Following the interval, the members of the Philadelphia Symphonic Choir (directed by Joe Miller) filled the risers at back of the stage. I was keen to see and hear the soloists for tonight's Mozart Requiem - soprano Erin Morley, contralto Sara Mingardo, tenor Kenneth Tarver, and basso Harold Wilson - but instead of taking their places next to the podium, they made an under-whelming entrance upstage and were seated behind the cellos. In the course of the performance, their singing for the most part lacked a sense of immediacy, and we could not truly be engaged by their personalities; in fact, I never got even a glimpse of Ms. Morley, as my view of her was blocked by the conductor on the podium.
Whether their positioning onstage affected their singing or not could be debated, but Ms. Morley's voice seemed less clear and engaging than is usually the case with her; even so, there were lovely passages in her singing. I had so been anticipating seeing Ms. Mingardo live as I have always loved her singing on recordings, but it was not until the Agnus Dei that her true colours could be savoured.
The gentlemen fared rather better under the circumstances. I was especially gladdened to hear Mr. Tarver again, who I had first encountered when he sang in the Met Auditions Winners concert in 1991. How wonderful to hear him in such fine voice tonight: clear, warm, and polished singing indeed. Mr. Wilson, who has impressed me at The Met in Iolanta, Peter Grimes, Elektra, and - most especially - as The Speaker in Zauberflöte, was an imposing figure on the Carnegie stage, and his singing had great authority and the right sense of solemnity.
With the soloists seeming effectively sidelined from the proceedings, it was the chorus that helped make the evening meaningful. In the Sanctus and the Agnus Dei, especially, they created the desired atmosphere.
Premature applause as the Requiem's final note was still echoing thru the Hall spoiled what were most likely Maestro Stutzmann's final moments with this great orchestra.
~ Oberon