The Philadelphia Orchestra brings William Grant Still to Saratoga

The burnt-orange glow that illuminated the Saratoga Performing Arts Center set the tone for a scorching performance of Stravinsky’s Suite from The Firebird, which opened the Philadelphia Orchestra’s penultimate week of summer residency here. Yannick Nézet-Séguin led the orchestra with a taut vigor that was missing from his reading of the complete ballet score, which the Philadelphians performed on their home turf back in April.

In fairness, symphonic treatments of ballet music often underscore what’s missing – the sense of movement and gesture tied to every note and phrase. In taking up Stravinsky's 1919 adaptation, Nézet-Séguin treated the piece like a self-contained symphony, allowing the music to develop naturally and gradually across the five excerpted movements. The orchestra managed impressive dynamic control, given the compulsory amplification of outdoor venues, nearly whispering throughout the Introduction and The Firebird and its Dance before letting loose with generous explosions of brass and percussion. Nézet-Séguin sculpted a wild ride, but he never did so at the expense of fine detail: Peter Smith’s graceful second-movement oboe solo and Jennifer Montone’s anchoring of the horns throughout were among the strongest I’ve ever heard.

Beatrice Rana made her Philadelphia Orchestra debut in Saratoga a decade ago, and she returned with a piece that’s quickly becoming a calling card: Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. Rana introduced the main theme with sparkling delicacy, and she was at her best in moments that allowed her to show off the wit and poise she can summon effortlessly. Her ravishing account of the famous Variation 18, buffeted by the orchestra’s soft strings, was a particular highlight. Elsewhere, Rana met the dazzling technical challenges of the faster variations, but these sections seemed memorable for stamina and endurance rather than interpretative individualism. Her encore, Mikhail Pletnev’s transcription of the March from The Nutcracker, unfolded with elegant repose.

Following intermission, Nézet-Séguin described “an incredible journey rediscovering the great American voices of the 20th century.” William Grant Still’s Symphony no. 2, “Song of a New Race” certainly belongs in that category. Written in 1937, Still fused jazz, blues and popular song with an effortless hand, creating a sound that spoke distinctly to its period and to the lineage of American music. Above a raft of heavily vibrant strings, superb details emerged: a flossy bassoon solo in the first movement; a call-and-response duet for oboe and clarinet in the second; and spirited percussion in the third that made the listener want to get up and dance. Nodding perhaps again to jazz, the double bass complement took pride of place throughout, often producing an impressive featherweight sound.

Nearly 90 years elapsed between the orchestra’s first performances of the symphony in 1937 and their rediscovery this year, but Still’s achievement will no longer be lost to history. At the end of the program, Nézet-Séguin announced that Deutsche Grammophon would release a live recording of the work next month.

Cameron’s accommodation was funded by Saratoga Performing Arts Center