Conductor Emeritus Ludovic Morlot returned to Benaroya Hall on June 13th and 15th to perform one of his signature creative programs, starting with two dynamic works of contemporary American composer John Adams and ending with Beethoven's ever-familiar Symphony no. 5 in C minor. The evening started with Adams’ four-minute Tromba Lontana (Distant Trumpet), part of a fanfare project commissioned by the Houston Symphony in 1985. In contrast to the composer’s boisterous Short Ride in a Fast Machine, also called a fanfare, in Tromba Lontana Adams expressly foregoes the entire fanfare concept and instead features two solo offstage trumpets gently alternating between sustained and staccato notes, accompanied by equally tranquil patterns in the orchestra. Seattle Symphony’s trumpet playing was at its usual high level, displaying great beauty of sound and consistency of tone. Morlot gave the piece an appropriately gentle, subtle reading, providing the perfect amuse bouche for the Adams piece that followed.
Harmonium, his work for chorus and orchestra written for the opening of San Francisco’s Davies Symphony Hall, predates Tromba Lontana by five years. Here, Adams explores minimalism in a mature manner for the first time, envisioning the characteristic minimalist repetition to show contrast in a wide sweep of grand gestures and space. The three movements are based on texts from three poems. In movement one, based on John Donne’s Negative Love, Adams examines the subject in an architectural upward curve, from the sensuous to the celestial, building clusters upon a single, initial vibrating note.
Movements two and three are derived from Emily Dickinson’s Because I Could Not Stop for Death and Wild Nights—Wild Nights! The former begins with an atmosphere of intimacy characteristic of the poet’s reserved nature. By contrast, the latter reverberates in almost supernova fashion, a stark difference from what most people consider the relative confidentiality of Dickinson’s personality. Adams imagines a physical-emotional passion on the part of the poet that is startling in its urgency, yet he creates an atmosphere that is otherworldly. The all-volunteer Seattle Symphony Chorale, directed by Associate Conductor for Choral Activities Joseph Crnko, showed deep musicality and resounding sonority in their astonishing performance of a piece that was immense in its vocal demands. Under Morlot’s command, the entire effort made an enormous impression on the listener.
The two Adams compositions, reflective and impetuous, prepared the audience for the gathering storm that was Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Finding a new or unique angle for the work’s universal, long-lasting appeal is a challenge. This was not a problem for Morlot, who programmed the work after the intermission as Beethoven had done when it premiered in Vienna in 1808, thus making for great impact.
Morlot’s straightforward, no-nonsense approach created a rendering that was powerful without being ponderous. He and his ensemble gave a strong performance that demonstrated the closeness of an established relationship that has been honed and developed over the years. Conductor and orchestra were one unit, completely in sync from the iconic first four notes through the final C major statement, reminiscent of the finale of Fidelio in its power, keeping the momentum throughout. There were moments that were revelatory. The lightness of the Scherzo: Allegro comes to mind, as well as the building of suspense and tension in the transition to the final Allegro. The importance of the brass in Beethoven’s Fifth cannot be overemphasized. The Seattle brass was unquestionably up to the task. Morlot and his orchestra and chorus should be justifiably proud of a program that was both entertaining and thought-provoking.
