Memory Lapse

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Last week the San Francisco Symphony offered up two quite different versions of what the ascent to heaven sounds like. Under the direction of guest conductor Myung-Whun Chung, the orchestra performed an innovative program that featured Olivier Messiaen’s L’Ascension and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 (”Titan”). While the pieces were performed with virtuosity by both conductor and orchestra, the performance on Saturday fell just this side of the pearly gates.

The concert marked Chung’s return to Davies Symphony Hall after 25 years. This long absence is to be regretted, for, as European audiences well know, the conductor is one of the foremost talents of his generation. A wide-ranging interpreter, the Korean-born Chung is thoroughly at home with a broad repertoire, focusing primarily on 20th-century and new music.

On the podium, Chung radiates humility, calm, and deep respect for the score as well as the musicians. He conducts from memory, keeping himself available to the orchestra at all times. His elegant baton technique dispenses with extraneous gestures, giving this listener the impression that each gesture is carefully chosen and closely related to the task at hand.

The first half of the concert was devoted to Messiaen’s L’Ascension, a piece that received its U.S. premiere by the San Francisco Symphony in 1947 under Pierre Monteux. Deeply influenced by the composer’s Roman Catholicism, L’Ascension is a programmatic work that depicts Christ’s ascent into heaven in slow-moving lines and chantlike melodies. Chung brought off much of this work with finesse. The woodwind-dominated second movement was well-played and featured a fine, delicate English horn solo by Russ DeLuna. The third movement, with its extroverted orchestration and challenging tempo modifications, also came off well.

In the opening movement, though, the series of chords in the brass was marred by consistent ensemble problems: Only one out of every three attacks or so was together. The problem was augmented by a harsh tone and overplaying by the principal trumpet. It seemed as if there was a disconnect between Chung’s conducting and the musicians, as if they were never quite able to agree on the proper relationship between the beat and the point of sound.

Disconnect Between Conductor and Players

The second half of the program was devoted to Mahler’s First Symphony, the final movement of which was described by the composer as an ascent from hell into paradise. The orchestra is no stranger to this piece, of course, having recorded the work live in Davies Symphony Hall in 2001. The symphony was still in the orchestra members’ fingers and lips, and the playing was impeccable. Chung’s interpretation, however, was a far cry from what the orchestra is used to, and again there seemed to be a lack of connection between conductor and orchestra.

Rather than focus on small details, Chung seemed intently focused on the piece’s larger shape, setting his interpretive sights on the major cadential points and skimming over large swaths of music in between. While these cadences — and the work’s triumphant conclusion — were moments of gripping power and intensity, I felt myself wishing that more attention was being paid to the stopping points on the journey. After all, isn’t getting there half the fun?

Alexander Kahn is a Ph.D. candidate in music history and literature at UC Berkeley, where his research is focused on the Hollywood émigrés. He is also the assistant conductor of the Oakland Civic and the UC Berkeley symphony orchestras.