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SYMPHONY REVIEW
Berkeley Symphony Kent Nagano December 14, 2006
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The Shostakovich Average By Jeff Dunn
To close the centennial year of Shostakovich in the Bay Area, Music Director Kent Nagano chose for his Berkeley Symphony program a work that typifies the Soviet composer's ambition and legacy: the powerful and unwieldy Seventh Symphony. This is an "average" work in three senses. It's the symphony written when Shostakovich was closest to his average age (34½). It's had an average reception over time: world famous at first, then vilified for decades, and now ranked somewhere in the middle of his symphonies in terms of quality. Finally, it contains a high proportion of both the best and the worst of what Shostakovich had to offer musically. Fortunately, both Nagano's programming and his interpretation were anything but average — much to the great satisfaction of the full-house audience in Zellerbach Hall.
Averaging out the effect of this work are its drama, orchestration, memorable tunes, and passion on the one hand, and the lack of concision, inclusion of weaker ideas with the strong, and diffuse finale on the other. Another kind of weird average is associated with the multiplicity of political interpretations that the work has had to endure: Is it anti-Stalin or anti-Hitler, or perhaps both? As with many of the composer's works, mixing together the wide range of opinions engendered by extramusical statements and associations averages out to, well, mud. Best to stick to the music and the fact that it is a war symphony and that he called it the "Leningrad" at a time that both it and he were being besieged by Hitler's armies.
The most salient and controversial feature of the symphony is its first movement, which starts out with two theme groups, like standard symphonies do, but then segues to an unrelated march tune treated in the manner of Ravel's Boléro: 12 repetitions over the space of more than 10 minutes of a single crescendo, plus several additional minutes of development on itself at full volume before elements of the initial exposition reappear. This was a daring stroke — for Ravel had already done it, and had received for his efforts both extreme popularity and derision. Shostakovich couldn't claim originality of concept, plus he had to come up with an equally hypnotic tune to hold audience interest.
That Shostakovich's risky strategy succeeds was confirmed by the Berkeley crowd's applause after the first movement, despite convention. This success was due not only to the composer: Nagano gauged his crescendo scrupulously and had even designed special risers so that the augmented brass section would not deafen nearby performers (who were already equipped with earplugs). So prepared, the orchestra members could safely play their hearts out and blow the climaxes away with force.
The next problem for Nagano was no less than the rest of the symphony: more than 40 additional minutes of less-striking themes, unduly drawn-out ruminations, and a weak finale that only just succeeds through force of willpower among almost absurd grandiosity. Nagano's strategy was the right one: Pace things correctly and handle transitions with care. Unfortunately, the orchestra could not always rise to the music's challenges. Occasional errors of synchronicity were heard, especially in the third movement, where the first violins must play a standout theme reminiscent of George Enescu's Second Romanian Rhapsody, in perfect unison. Nevertheless, the band is to be congratulated for taking on such a difficult assignment and projecting a Russian spirit in the face of technical hurdles. Probably the biggest stroke of genius in the concert was Nagano's opening of the program with three short pieces by the Estonian composer Arvo Pärt: Summa for strings, Für Alina for piano, and Arbos for brass and percussion. Their well-conveyed brevity, gentility, and restraint provided the perfect foil for the Shostakovich to come, abounding as it does in the opposite characteristics. The excellent programming, conducting, and audience reception of the Berkeley Symphony concert was slightly mitigated by the below-average planning for a highly above-average number of will-call tickets (roughly 500) that Zellerbach's ticketing staff couldn't handle quickly enough. The concert started a half-hour late. Fortunately, Victor Gavenda's well-written and informative programs notes made the wait a pleasurable one.
(Jeff Dunn is a freelance critic with a B.A. in music and a Ph.D. in geologic education. A composer of piano and vocal music, he is a member of NACUSA and president of Composers Inc.)
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Kent Nagano
