Damning with faint praise: Berlioz at Bard

The Bard Music Festival concluded a two-week exploration of Hector Berlioz with a concert performance of La Damnation de Faust. Leading the American Symphony Orchestra, Leon Botstein demonstrated his skills as an impresario and his limitations as a conductor. The composer’s style – frequently lush, occasionally kitschy and unapologetically French – seemed ill-suited to the maestro, who often excels in German and Slavic works. Although the ASO’s playing never sounded less than thoroughly professional, the musical values grew repetitive and tiresome across a long afternoon. Country dances, military marches and dream sequences all took on a similar weight: too loud, too thick and lacking detail. Isolated moments impressed – a charming waltz before the intermission, the offstage brass that follows “D’amour l'ardente flamme”, the galloping music that precedes Faust’s descent to Hell – but a thoroughly considered throughline was missing.

Perhaps due to truncated rehearsals in the midst of a jam-packed festival, the performances also suffered from a lack of distinction. The principal cast contained no Francophone singers, and textual matters remained fairly general. Sasha Cooke fared best as Marguerite, musically scrupulous and displaying a knack for the forward vocal placement central to French style, although the total role did not seem to be in her vocal sweet spot. She coped admirably with Botstein’s ludicrously fast tempi in “D’amour l’ardente flamme”, though neither the high nor low ends of the aria’s spectrum seemed to flatter her range. Bass Stefan Egerstrom also made a positive impression in Brander’s drinking song, though his preening stage manner verged on camp.

Bass-baritone Alfred Walker possesses a world-class instrument, and his singing was regularly thrilling as Méphistophélès, though not stylistically appropriate. His cavernous sound swallowed words throughout, and attempts to lighten his voice – as in the “moral song” that Méphistophélès uses to entrance Marguerite – made little impression. This fine artist should be singing Verdi and Wagner, where his combination of tonal beauty and vocal heft would be welcome. In the title role, Joshua Blue seemed taxed by the high tessitura, only exhibiting comfort when singing at full volume. Sustained legato passages tended to turn bleaty.

The Bard Festival Chorale, prepared by James Bagwell, supplied fine work, especially as they welcomed Marguerite to Heaven at the conclusion. (They were joined here by a small children’s chorus and soprano Emily Donato as the Celestial Voice.) Unlike other concert works here in the past, the performance was not staged. Although the work’s extended orchestral interludes and choral passages may seem inherently anti-theatrical, the absence of direction made for a static afternoon. Botstein also appeared occasionally oblivious to his soloists – who were placed slightly behind his podium – extending his long arms in a manner that placed his baton directly the path of a singer’s face.