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SYMPHONY REVIEW
Michael Grebanier Alasdair Neale
February 23, 2007
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Restrung Program Rings True By John Lutterman
The sudden illness of guest conductor Carlos Kalmar precipitated some last-minute changes in last week's program of the San Francisco Symphony. Fortunately, former associate conductor Alasdair Neale, who is now music director of the Marin Symphony, was able to step in and ably lead the orchestra in a slightly altered program. William Schuman's A Song of Orpheus, featuring Principal Cellist Michael Grebanier as soloist, was retained, but Antonín Dvorák's masterful and brooding Seventh Symphony was substituted for the less frequently performed Sixth Symphony, and the Czech master's Carnival Overture was heard in lieu of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1.
On the whole, these quickly rehearsed works were given convincing performances on Friday — an impressive achievement by conductor and orchestra alike, in view of the circumstances. Dvorák's Carnival Overture, which opened the program, is full of exuberant fireworks. There were a few ragged moments, particularly in some of the violins' quick passage work, and the lower brass tended to overwhelm the rest of the orchestra at times when a bit of restraint would have resulted in more powerful textures. Yet overall the orchestra threw itself into the work with an infectious, pedal-to-the-floor enthusiasm. The wind solos shone, as usual, as did the playing of associate concertmaster Nadya Tichman.
William Schuman's seldom-performed A Song of Orpheus makes use of material from the composer's song of the same title, which he set to a passage from Shakespeare's Henry VIII. Written for cellist Leonard Rose, soloist Michael Grebanier's mentor and Schuman's colleague at the Juilliard School, the work opens with a meditative soliloquy, with the orchestra gradually joining in with delicate accompanimental figuration. Grebanier acquitted himself with great aplomb, and performed with an admirably relaxed, somewhat slow and wide vibrato, producing a rich but quite monochromatic tone. Still, it took a while for his soliloquy to find a sense of direction. Momentum built as the piece progressed, with the orchestra taking an increasingly active role, and the outstanding horn section served up some truly delicious ensemble work. Dvorák's Seventh Symphony, which closed the program, was given a luxuriant performance, full of rich textures. It was a pleasure to be immersed in the lush sounds that this orchestra excels at producing. For a work like this, I would have preferred the more carefully inflected, precisely articulated, and rather wiry string sound that Czech orchestras employ to bring out the folk quality that echoes in many of Dvorák's melodies. Nevertheless, this was an extremely appealing performance, to which the audience responded enthusiastically. Afterward, it was a pleasure to see a distinguished-looking, middle-aged couple whistling and dancing to tunes from the Scherzo as they made their way toward their car.
(John Lutterman is a cellist and musicologist. He holds a D.M.A. from SUNY Stony Brook and a Ph.D. in historical musicology from UC Davis.)
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