Superconductor Presents: The Sausage Awards

The Very Wurst of 2017
by Paul J. Pelkonen

How sausage is made: it isn't pretty. Animated still by Gerald Scarfe
from the film Pink Floyd: The Wall © 1982 MGM/UA.

Hi everybody, it's time for the first of a series of year-end wrap-up posts as we close the books on 2017. This will forever be remembered as the year that the government of the United States decided to start undoing the hard work and social programs of the 20th century, and as the year when long-buried sex scandals in the entertainment industry finally began to come out in the light.

Here are five things that Superconductor (that is I,) did not like about 2017.

Editorial: Falling Off Their Podiums

The changing role of the conductor in the 21st century.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Photoshop by the author.

 When you think about it conductors are held in a ridiculously high esteem. Now granted it is important for orchestras to cue in together and stay in time, and know when to start and when to stop playing. However, the idea of the conductor as celebrity, as some sort of mystic grand master of musical performance is one that is endemic to the classical music and opera business.

The Broken Baton

Charles Dutoit accused of sexual misconduct, loses major conducting jobs.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit stands accused of four separate incidents of sexual misconduct.

In a detailed and harrowing story in the Associated Press, three opera singers and an orchestra musician recalled sexual advances and assaults by Mr. Dutoit. The story, by Jocelyn Gecker, shines light on four unrelated incidents. All involved the Swiss maestro. In response to the story, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Philadelphia Orchestra and New York Philharmonic cut their ties with the 81-year-old Swiss maestro.

Opera Review: Hot Rails to Hell

The BSO brings back The Damnation of Faust.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Conductor Charles Dutoit (on podium) leads Paul Groves, Susan Graham and John Relyea in the trio from
Part III of The Damnation of Faust. Photo by Hilary Scott for the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

I'm going open this review on a personal note.

Ten years (and change) age, I posted the first review on Superconductor, of the Boston Symphony Orchestra playing Hector Berlioz' The Damnation of Faust. That concert (you can read about it here) was at Carnegie Hall under the baton of James Levine. In honor of that anniversary, I took an early morning Amtrak to Boston yesterday to see the BSO perform The Damnation of Faust.

It was worth the trip.

Concert Review: When Bambi Met Godzilla

Mozart and Respighi at the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The amazing fingers of Yuja Wang.
Photo by Felix Broede © 2015 Deutsche Grammophon/Universal Classics.

Programming a modern symphony orchestra concert requires balance, between the aesthetics of classicism and Romanticism, between modernity and the crowd-pleasing tonal music that is an ensemble's bread and butter. However, this week's New York Philharmonic program looked to be wildly out of balance, pitting a Mozart piano concerto (No. 9, the Jeunehomme) against Ottorino Respighi's giant Roman Trilogy, three sets of tone poems that, like the legions of ancient Rome, can simply bludgeon an audience into applause.

Concert Review: The Continental Returns

Charles Dutoit conducts the New York Philharmonic in Central Park.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The crowd gathers for the New York Philharmonic's Thursday night concert.
Photo from nyphil.tumblr.com.

The New York Philharmonic Concerts in the Parks series usually presents New Yorkers with the chance to hear its orchestra play two very different programs. On Thursday night, Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit led a sophisticated program of works centered around the music and culture of France, particularly the city of Paris.

Concert Review: A Funeral for a Birthday

Charles Dutoit conducts the War Requiem at Orchestra Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Charles Dutoit. Photo by Chris Lee.

On Thursday night, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra marked the 100th birthday of composer Benjamin Britten (coming up on November 22nd) with the first of three performances of his War Requiem. This massive work, requiring two seperate orchestras, chorus, children's choir and three soloists, was conducted by Charles Dutoit, the Swiss maestro whose globe-girdling 2013 conducting schedule has focused on performances of this particular work.

Concert Review: Storm Home

Charles Dutoit conducts the New York Philharmonic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Conductor Charles Dutoit. Photo provided by the New York Philharmonic.

The announcement came on Halloween Night, as Hurricane Sandy made her exit from our city, continuing the northwest course that forced the 500-mile-wide swirl of wind and rain smack straight on into New York Harbor:

November 1–3 Concert Program Changed Due To Impact Of Hurricane Sandy 

New Program To Include Works by Glinka, Elgar, and Rachmaninoff 

Soloist Nikolai Lugansky To Make Philharmonic Debut, Charles Dutoit To Conduct.

On Saturday night, with one subway line providing access into Manhattan, this writer was able to see the New York Philharmonic perform this altered program under the sure baton of veteran Swiss conductor Charles Dutoit. The whole program sparkled. It seemed that New York's hometown orchestra wanted to please and soothe with these great works, and provide some measure of healing to an audience still suffering shell shock from the storm.

The performance opened with a brisk, jaunty account of the Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla, Mikhail Glinka's escapist fantasy based on a surreal drama by Pushkin. Mr. Dutoit and the orchestra produced the overture's Rossini-like rhythms with bold vigor, alternating with rich, Oriental colors from the double reeds.

Opera Review: Magic on Mass. Ave.

Charles Dutoit conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

by Paul Pelkonen

"Now children, swish and flick." Charles Dutoit casts a magic spell.

Thursday night's Boston Symphony Orchestra concert at Symphony Hall featured a twin bill of 20th century operas by Stravinsky and Ravel. Although very different in sound, each 45-minute opera was dedicated to the exploration of fairy tale worlds and the use of vast orchestral resources to depict magical events. The program was conducted by Charles Dutoit.

The Stravinsky work was Le Rossignol, ("The Nightingale") an opera set in that same peculiar European vision of ancient China as Puccini's Turandot. This short three-act opera is based on a story by Hans Christian Andersen, of a Chinese emperor's complicated relationship with a nightingale (Olga Peretyako) whose song has the power to bring tears and ultimately, save the life of the dying Emperor.

Le Rossignol had a difficult genesis. In fact, the composer had only just finished the first act when he was commissioned by his friend Sergei Diaghalev to write a ballet for Paris, a work that turned out to be The Firebird. He did not complete the second and third acts until after the premiere of The Rite of Spring. The first act breathes with exoticism and orchestral combinations that are redolent of Stravinsky's teacher Rimsky-Korsakov. The second part features a thunderous Chinese march and strange tonalities permeating the final confrontation with Death.

The Superconductor Interview: Misplaced Childhood

Julie Boulianne sings L'enfant et les sortilèges.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The destroyer: Julie Boulianne sings the Child in Ravel's L'enfant et les sortilèges
at Boston's Symphony Hall. Photo © 2012 IMG Artists.

It's not easy being a brat.

That's certainly the case for Canadian mezzo-soprano Julie Boulianne , who sings the title role in the Boston Symphony Orchestra's two performances of Maurice Ravel's opera L'enfant et les sortiléges ("The Child and the Enchantments") at Symphony Hall this week. The concert marks Ms. Boullaine's debut at Symphony Hall.

"It's a little tough," she admits in a telephone interview with Superconductor, speaking of the title role in this opera, an obnoxious brat who destroys his possession and his surroundings only to have them come to life and take umbrage at his behavior. "He's all over the place. "He's so mean to everybody."

"It's really written like a child would sing it," she says. "The comments (in the score) are 'child-like' and vocally you feel as if you are a child too. I bring something different to the voice and the musical phrasing--I try to keep it as a younger child would sing it without taking away the beauty of the music."

Concert Review: The Chief's Last Dance

The Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul Pelkonen

White tie, tails and baton: the conductor Charles Dutoit.

Charles Dutoit's tenure as Chief Conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra was a happy accident, engineered as a result of the abrupt exit of former music director Christoph Eschenbach in 2006. In that time, the veteran Swiss conductor has kept a steady hand on the tiller even as the ensemble has soared through stormy seas and nearly dashed itself to death on the rocks of last year's bankruptcy filing.

On Friday night, Mr. Dutoit brought his final subscription-series program of the season to Carnegie Hall. This is not quite the end of the season for the conductor, but a program that marked the passing of the baton from Mr. Dutoit to the incoming music director, Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

Friday's program played to Mr. Dutoit's strengths, opening with a fizzing account of Mikhail Glinka's overture to the opera Ruslan i Lyudmila. The composer's biggest artistic success was an unlikely blueprint for the Russian operas that followed, combining witty violin writing with Rossini-like accelerando. Mr. Dutoit was animated and in his element, basking in the rich string sound produced by the orchestra.

Opera Review: Blonde and Dangerous

The Philadelphia Orchestra presents Elektra.

by Paul Pelkonen

She's a lumberjack: Eva Johansson as Elektra.
Photo by Martin Mydskov Rønne © 2006 Zurich Opera.

The presentation of opera in the concert format is at its heart, an artificial process, sometimes marred by the formal dress of concert singers and an uninvolved conductor. However, the Philadelphia Orchestra's first hack at Richard Strauss' opera Elektra proved the opposite. Conductor Charles Dutoit (who is ending his tenure as Philly's chief conductor this month) generated a white-hot intensity that is usually reserved for the opera house.

The performance was anchored by Eva Johannson, a Danish soprano who has run the gamut of German repertory, from Mozart and the lightest Wagner parts to Brunnhilde, Isolde and of course, the heavyweight title role in this opera. Aided by Mr. Dutoit's careful, judicious control of the Philadelphia players, Ms. Johannson found the lyricism in Strauss' elegant vocal lines where other singers simply bring the noise.

Even on the lip of the Verizon Hall stage, Ms. Johannson was an involved actress, using gestures and her eyes to convey torment. The ice melted completely in the Recognition Scene, where Elektra realizes that the mysterious stranger in front of her is her brother Orestes. This scene featured a ghost-like pianissimo that floated above the stave, and an (almost) incestuous longing. In sync with Strauss' kaleidoscopic orchestra, Ms. Johansson changed vocal colors again for the final triumphant dance, demonstrating stamina and beautiful tone in this demanding music.

Concert Review: A Little Taste of Heaven

Three concertos highlight the "Philadelphia sound."

Conductor Charles Dutoit.

by Paul Pelkonen

Mention the Philadelphia Orchestra to a music lover in the ast two years and their first thought may be "bankruptcy." The fiscally troubled orchestra did file Chapter 11 in 2011. But as Thursday night's Carnegie Hall appearance proved, high artistic standards are still the norm for the orchestra from Broad Street.

Charles Dutoit has served the Orchestra as Chief Conductor since the tumultuous 2008 exit of Christoph Eschenbach. (He will become an Emeritus next season, making way for the incoming music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin.)  This concert allowed he Swiss conductor showed his experience and skill in three diverse concertos from three different composers.

The concert opened with the cerebral Concerto for Seven Wind Instruments by Frank Martin. This 1949 piece by an under-played, underrated Swiss composer  evokes Ravel in its complex orchestral fabric. Martin's work looks back to the Baroque and the idea of the concerto grosso, allowing each soloist to display their instrumental skills before breaking into small groups and engaging in a joyful, dancing finale.

Concert Review: A Celebration of Birth and Death

Lang Lang celebrates Liszt's 200th at the Kimmel Center.

This didn't actually happen at the concert, but it's what Liszt sounds like.
Pianist Lang Lang. Photo © 2011 courtesy Sony Classical.

On Saturday night, the Philadelphia Orchestra, led by Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit, celebrated the birth of a composer and the death of a dictator. The composer: Franz Liszt, whose 200th birthday was celebrated by guest pianist Lang Lang. The dictator: Joseph Stalin, whose systematic terrorization of Russian composers remains a black memory of the last century.

The program opened with Dmitri Shostakovich's Tenth Symphony. With this work, Shostakovich broke a self-imposed silence following the second round of Soviet artist purges in the aftermath of World War II.  One of the composer's most popular and tightly constructed symphonies, the Tenth sets the composer's autobiographical "D-S-C-H" theme (D-E♭-C-B♮) against a whirling tornado of sound representing Stalin and his thugs. In the final showdown, the Shostakovich theme wins, sounding out triumphantly in the brass.

From its subtle, almost imperceptible opening in the double basses, Mr. Dutoit led this work with passion and authority. He bent almost double in the fast "Stalin" movement, driving the orchestra with precision where other conductors generate brassy noise. The last two movements featured stellar wind playing from the Philadelphians, climaxing in a driving reprise of the "motto" theme in brass and timpani.


The Liszt celebration started with a choice that reflected Liszt as a showman: Karl Müller-Berghaus' orchestration of the Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2. This flashy piano piece (featured in Tom and Jerry cartoons and a memorable scene in Who Framed Roger Rabbit) was played with charm by the full orchestra.

When Lang Lang took the stage, nobody fainted. Nobody threw their panties, room keys, or other fannish items. The lights in Verizon Hall were brightened to facilitate filming, and the genial pianist sat down at the Steinway to play Liszt's First Piano Concerto. 

Liszt built this concerto by folding four movements into one, which can create pacing problems that the conductor and soloist must work together to solve. Mr. Lang played the stentorian opening with a powerful attack, and then played the first lyric outpourings of his instrument with searching, Romantic tone. The thrilling effect, a trill at the high end of the keyboard, the sound of a butterfly landing on one end of the piano.

Mr. Lang attended the Curtis Institute and has great reverence for the Philadelphia Orchestra. Their skilled accompaniment showed that the respect was mutual. Pianist and orchestra down-shifted into the slow movement and then to the short Allegro with its chiming triangle. The finale brought all the movements together in a stunning display of virtuoso playing that also validated Liszt as a masterful composer for orchestra.

If Mr. Lang chose to, (or were allowed to) smoke cigars onstage at Verizon Hall, his stogie would be preserved in a jeweled reliquary. He played an encore instead: a lush, sensuous reading of the Liebestraum. The evening ended with pianist, orchestra and even audience joining for a bicentennial reading of "Happy Birthday" for Mr. Liszt, complete with a final trill.

It's (kinda) Sunny in Philadelphia

Musicians sign contract, but Kimmel Center is shut down.

Deborah Voigt sings tonight's season-opening gala, which has been moved across the Schuylkill River.

Clouds are lifting over the Philadelphia Orchestra, which has spent the summer mired in bankruptcy proceedings and labor struggles. Their season opens tonight away, but not in their usual home of Verizon Hall.

Due to a Sept. 30 strike by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (which governs ushers, stagehands, box office and wardrobe workers at the Kimmel Center and the nearby Academy of Music) tonight's gala opening concert will be played at Irvine Auditorium, on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. 

The concert will feature soprano Deborah Voigt, performing selections from the Great American Songbook. Ms. Voigt is a late replacement for Dawn Upshaw, who withdrew from the concert following a death in the family.

In a prepared statement, the musicians of the orchestra announced that they voted to ratify a new four-year agreement with management. "Although we accept this contract reluctantly," the statement read, "the alternative could cause additional uncertainty and harm to members of this great orchestra."

Recent articles by Peter Dobrin of the Philadelphia Inquirer indicate that the musicians will take a $35 million hit, squarely in the pension fund. The Philadelphia Orchestra Association intends to withdraw from that fund, and may face opposition from the American Federation of Musicians and Employees' Pension Fund.

The labor deal, which offers severe salary cuts and reduces the orchestra's roster by ten players, is subject to approval by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The statement continues: "It is the self-admitted failures of management and the Board that have led us to this point, and we challenge them to make the changes needed to raise the funds necessary to operate and promote the Orchestra with the same passion with which we create music." The statement calls on the Board of Directors to equal the musicians' commitment to stablize the orchestra's finances.

Concert Review: From Penury to Perdition

The Philadelphia Orchestra's La Damnation de Faust

Worth going to Hell for: Susan Graham
Photo by Dario Acosta © IMG Artists

On Saturday night at Verizon Hall, the Philadelphia Orchestra concluded their tumultuous 2010-2011 season with Berlioz' The Damnation of Faust, the "dramatic legend" by Hector Berlioz that straddles the fine line between oratorio and full-blown opera. Damnation comes at the end of a season that has seen this proud organization's board file for bankruptcy, a bizarre move that may damage their reputation and pride of place as one of America's premiere ensembles.

Financial difficulties aside, the famous "Philadelphia Sound" was present throughout this performance, from the opening string fugue that begins the piece, through the thundering Rákóczy March that ends Part I. Berlioz stretched his source material here, bringing Faust to the plains of Hungary for no other reason than to insert this famous melody into his piece. Under the baton of chief conductor Charles Dutoit, the Philadelphians showed what a good idea this was.

The star of the evening was mezzo-soprano Susan Graham as Marguerite, the object of Faust's romantic obsession who comes dangerously close to damnation herself. Ms. Graham entered Verizon Hall halfway through the performance, and demonstrated total engagement and familiarity with this complex material. She brought raw emotion and smooth, rich tone to her two arias: the Song of the King of Thule and the famous "D'amour l'ardente flamme" that marks her exit.

Paul Groves was an impressive, serious presence as the doomed Faust wandering, and ultimately doomed Faust. His opening "Le viel hiver" had the right note of restless wandering. The Study scene was marked by introspection, which turned to abundant energy with the arrival of Méphistopheles. The love duet with Ms. Graham benefited from their time opposite each other in Gluck's Iphégenie en Tauride at the Metropolitan Opera. They shared real chemistry, acting together despite the oratorio setting and making the performance more than just a concert.

David Wilson-Johnson was an appropriately wicked Mephistopheles. He swaggered through his opening duet with Faust and blustered appropriately in the Song of the Flea. He displayed cool command over his will o'the wisps in the scene by the banks of the Elbe, singing over the sleeping Faust with the demonic equivalent of affection. Throughout, Mr. Wilson-Johnson was an expressive presence, using his face and eyes to convey Mephistopheles' intent as he led Faust down the long road to hell. The final gallop and pandemonium was his triumphant moment, and he sunk down, spent.

Mr. Dutoit displayed great energy on the podium, using baton, fingers, eyebrows and elbows to command the great choral, orchestral and vocal forces required for Berlioz' vision. He alternated between the musicians in front of him, to the trio of soloists, to the choristers arrayed above the orchestra in the so-called "Conductor's Circle" of Verizon Hall. He conducted this score in a brusque way, making the rhythms snap and the flames of Hell leap in the tricky Pandemonium chorus. The Philadelphia Singers Chorale, filling the roles of soldiers, demons, seraphim and townspeople armed with torches, sang with admirable precision.

Concert Review: Nimble Strings and Cosmic Things

The Philadelphia Orchestra Explores The Planets

Neptune: the Mystic. We could have run another photo of Charles Dutoit, but what fun would that be?
 Image by Voyager 2 © 1989 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

On Tuesday night, the Philadelphia Orchestra presented a pair of works by 20th century British composers William Walton and Gustav Holst (capped by the latter's The Planets) under the brisk leadership of Chief Conductor Charles Dutoit.

The concert opened with Walton's lone Violin Concerto, with soloist Gil Shaham. Mr. Shaham displayed adept technique, whizzing through Walton's scales and arpeggios, although his instrument sounded dry and reedy against the lush sonic curtain of the orchestra.

Written as a love letter to his paramour of many years, Walton's concerto contrasts Italianate lyric melodies with a jazzy sequence of changes, influenced by what was at the time a new type of music. This is a treacherous concerto (there is no slow movement) and Mr. Shaham's energetic performance was well suited to the composer's rapid-fire writing.

The Philadelphia Orchestra charged up its hyper-drive engines and roared into The Planets, playing "Mars, the Bringer of War" with a savage, muscular drive. The brass section and the low strings dominate this movement, a thunderous protest of the stupidity of war that predates the music of both John Williams and Metallica. Thrilling low notes from the tuba and the steady chug of basses and cellos created the grinding wheel of the war machine and propelling it with a ferocious snarl.

"Venus, the Bringer of Peace" was a far more lyric affair, with eloquent melodies for the English horn, oboe, and first violin against a romantic backdrop. Mr. Dutoit took "Mercury" at a light clip, with its sparkling celesta part and woodwind solos. The orchestra seemed to gather its breath for "Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity", playing this famous movement with joy and a kind of savage glee. The contrasting second theme featured the Philadelphia trademark: a round, rich cello-led tone, finely burnished and capable of elevating the spirit to the heavenly spheres that inspired Holst's suite.

The Last Planet: Neptune with its moon, Triton.
Photo by Voyager 2 © 1989 National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Holst used the last three movements of his suite to visit the obscure outer planets: Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Saturn, marked ("The Bringer of Old Age") is a grim, slow death march exploring the ear-tormenting interval of the second. It was played with funereal power. Uranus ("The Magician") allowed the brass and crack timpani players to sally forth, evoking a magic show of orchestral effects.

The finale, "Neptune: the Mystic" is sad and remote as its namesake, an icy soundscape of strings and wind accompanied by a wordless offstage women's chorus. As the orchestra played its hushed, final notes, the mysterious chorus faded to silence. Verizon Hall erupted with cheers for this successful tour of the Solar System under the baton of Captain Dutoit.

Concert Review: The Art of the Feud

Charles Dutoit conducts Berlioz' Roméo et Juliette Symphony.

Charles Dutoit conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Photo by Michael J. Lutch © 2010 Boston Symphony Orchestra.

The deep connection between the music of Hector Berlioz and the Boston Symphony Orchestra goes back to the music directorship of Charles Munch. His administration (1949-1962) coincided with the birth of the LP and the rise of stereo, and the French conductor recorded much of the Berlioz repertory with the BSO for RCA. Charles Dutoit, who began his conducting career at Tanglewood under the tutelage of Mr. Munch, later recorded a Berlioz cycle of his own (for Decca) with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Mr. Dutoit brought that experience and skill with Berlioz to Thursday night's concert at Symphony Hall. Roméo et Juliette is a sprawling six-movement "Symphonie-dramatique", that combines orchestra, chorus, and solo singers to transform Shakespeare's tragedy into a narrative told largely by the orchestra. The work, consisting of both vocal and instrumental movements, was challenging when Berlioz wrote it in 1839. It remains among his more difficult pieces to bring off in a live performance.

Berlioz' decision to set Shakespeare as a symphony was triggered in 1827, when he attended an English performance of the Bard's works in Paris, featuring one Harriet Smithson. Roméo represents Berlioz himself, smitten with Juliette/Ms. Smithson, who the composer later married and divorced. The Irish actress was also featured as the love-interest in Berlioz' earlier exercise in genre-busting, the Symphonie-fantastique.



Under Mr. Dutoit, the six movements coalesced into a fluent, cohesive whole with a firm sense of dramatic arc. The BSO strings responded well to his direction in the first movement, alternating with loud brass chords to depict street fights between the Montagues and Capulets. The small chorus, accompanying mezzo-soprano Bernarda Fink set the stage for the battle between the families and the meeting of the young lovers.

It is a mark of Berlioz' innovative spirit that the lovers are not represented by singers--only by figurations within the orchestra. The vocal solos are reserved for the Narrator (Ms. Fink), Roméo's buddy Mercutio (Jean-Paul Fouchécourt) and Father Laurence (Laurent Naouri). Mr. Fouchécourt made the Queen Mab aria an exercise in fluent French tenor style, producing beautiful tone as he skipped above the sprightly accompaniment the rambling six-movement adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy into a fluent, cohesive whole.

In the next three (mostly) instrumental movements, the orchestra depicts Roméo at the ball, the following balcony scene, and the characters' eventual demise within the tomb of the Capulets. There is also the famous "Queen Mab" scherzo, which expands upon the material of Mercutio's aria to produce fairy music worthy of Mendelssohn. Mr. Dutoit led these movements with senstitivity and sympathy for the star-crossed protagonists, and the Boston forces responded with orchestral playing of the highest caliber.

The full Tanglewood Festival Chorus marched onto the stage for Juliette's funeral procession. The most powerful music in the symphony, the funeral march was played with real weight. In the finale, Mr. Naouri brought gravitas to the role of Father Laurence. As he admonished the assembled Montagues and Capulets, Mr. Naouri sang with smoky, dark tone, cutting through and over the massed orchestral and choral forces behind him.

Berlioz ends the tragedy on a note of reconciliation and an oath of friendship between the families. This  has nothing to do with Shakespeare but serves to brings his most massive symphony to an upward, almost triumphant close. After the tumult of the 2010-2011 season, the Boston players sounded as if the reconciliation was very welcome indeed.

Concert Review: Finding Their Marbles

The Philadelphia Orchestra brings Stravinsky to Carnegie Hall.

The Philadelphia Orchestra's chief conductor: Charles Dutoit

The Philadelphia Orchestra has been in the headlines lately, not for the band's musical prowess, but for their board's decision to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The Philadelphians are the first major American orchestra to declare bankruptcy, a decision that has sent rumblings of doom throughout the classical music industry.

Those rumblings were silenced at the Orchestra's Tuesday night appearance at Carnegie Hall under the baton of chief conductor Charles Dutoit. The Swiss maestro brought a contrasting program of works by Igor Stravinsky: the sunny ballet score Apollo and the opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex. The result was an effective contrast of light and dark, exploring two aspects of Stravinsky's neo-classical period.

The  succulent, dark tone of the Philadelphia strings have been a trademark of this orchestra since the heady days when Leopold Stokowski stood upon the podium. This performance of Apollo, a work written just for the strings, featured this rich, thick carpet of sound, with soaring solos from the principal players in each section. Apollo marks a very different Stravinsky from the tribal thunder of the Rite of Spring: a work of neo-classical elegance that recalls the music of Haydn.


The jarring, heavy chords that mark the opening bars of Oedipus Rex have the opposite effect. Oedipus uses huge, rough blocks of brass and percussion, combined with an all-male Latin chorus to evoke the marble and masks of Greek tragedy. The Latin setting of Sophocles (by Jean Cocteau) features no onstage action, and all the events of Oedipus' downfall are described by an omniscient narrative before they happen.

In other words, this is the perfect opera to do in a concert setting.

Tenor Paul Groves was a strong Oedipus, exuding confidence in the first act that slowly degenerated into panic. Baritone Robert Gierlach doubled the roles of Creon and the Messenger. While he has a fine voice, he had trouble being heard over the orchestra at full blast. Petra Lang made an impressive vocal entrance as Jocasta, but sounded unusually harsh of tone in the latter half of her scene with Oedipus. Then again, it could have been her character's panic at realizing who her husband really was.

Mr. Dutoit moved the blocks of sound around with the ease of an Athenian work crew, although the heavy orchestra occasionally overwhelmed the soloists. The orchestra played with precision, with rich trombone tones and deadly, precise percussion. The men of the Philadelphia Singers Chorale made the strongest impression as the citizenry of plague-struck Thebes, by turns terrified, enraged, and horrified at the fate of their king. Philadelphia-based Shakespearean actor David Howey was strong and sympathetic as the Narrator.