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SYMPHONY REVIEW
Rossini, the Fervent Sacred Side
March 24, 1999
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By Clifford Cranna
When Hans von Bulow called Verdi's Requiem "an opera in ecclesiastical
costume," he might just as well have been speaking of Rossini's Stabat
Mater. A product of the composer's early "retirement years" (premiered
in 1842), it made its first appearance on a San Francisco Symphony subscription concert last Wednesday. Even Rossini himself probably had a few
qualms about adapting his ebullient musical style, so steeped in the heady
language of the theater, to the somber mood of this most penitential of
sacred subjects--a fervent medieval prayer to the grieving Virgin at the foot
of the cross. In a moment of self-deprecation that was probably only
partially facetious, Rossini once wrote, "Thou knowest, O Lord, as well as
I, that I am only a composer of opera buffa."
Yet if there was ever a case to made that his Stabat Mater is far more than a flight of bel canto extravagance masquerading as piety, it was
emphatically driven home by conductor Roberto Abbado, who led an impassioned
and heartfelt performance that emphasized the emotional integrity and
sincerity of conviction that are at the core of Rossini's score.
Abbado was aided by a top-notch quartet of soloists, all but one of them
familiar faces at the War Memorial Opera House. The newcomer, Juan Diego
Flórez, is a young Peruvian who represents one of the brightest lights on
the tenorial horizon. Still in his mid-twenties but with an impressive
list of credits in the Rossini-Donizetti repertoire, he overcame some
apparent initial shyness and physical reticence with a clear, robust
Italianate sound of medium size, and a secure technique that easily
negotiated the high D-flat of the jaunty aria "Cujus animam gementem."
Soprano Patricia Racette (well-known here since her Adler Fellow
days) and mezzo soprano Susanne Mentzer admirably avoided operatic excess in their restrained but gorgeously sung duet Quis est homo. Italian basso cantante Roberto Scandiuzzi was solid yet dramatically intense in his Pro peccatis suae gentis. Racette was vocally resplendent in the Inflammatus et accensus, joined by the chorus in hair-raising evocation of the flames of hell--Rossini's version of the Dies irae! Mentzer's aria Fac, ut portem, though slightly lacking in vocal heft, was delivered with artistry and polish.
As usual Vance George's Symphony Chorus was excellent, offering pungent
precision, admirable control, and impressively nuanced phrasing. Their
delicately tuned unisons in the unaccompanied Eia, mater were especially
effective. In the final Amen chorus, a mighty double fugue, Abbado whipped
his forces into a rootin'-tootin' frenzy without muddying Rossini's
carefully-wrought counterpoint.
The program began with a very different type of penitential outpouring,
Ernest Bloch's Schelomo. Subtitled "A Hebraic Rhapsody for Cello and
Orchestra," the work is a wordless expression of the pessimism of the
biblical King Solomon ("Schelomo" in Hebrew) and his despair at the futility
of earthy life, inspired by the book of Ecclesiastes: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity." Abbado seemed far less at home in shaping this
multi-section work, seeming to skim the surface in a once-over-lightly
approach that lacked focus and depth.
Flailing and lunging, Abbado churned up the big climaxes with podium-hopping excess that extracted strident force from the brass, getting at the bitter rage of the piece without finding its essential core of orientally-tinged melancholy. Michael Grebanier, the Symphony's much-admired principal cellist, performed the solo with expertise and profound insight.
(Clifford (Kip) Cranna is Musical Administrator of the San Francisco Opera,
Program Advisor for the Carmel Bach Festival, and a frequent lecturer on
music appreciation.)
©1999 Clifford Cranna, all rights reserved
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