The stars were out at Santa Barbara’s Granada Theatre Saturday night as Music Academy of the West ended its 70th summer festival season with a concert by the Academy Festival Orchestra (comprised of Music Academy students) under Alan Gilbert and super diva Renee Fleming performing Four Last Songs of Richard Strauss.
The Music Academy has a four-year residency partnership with the New York Philharmonic of which Gilbert has participated and Fleming is part of the school’s guest artist faculty – delicious frosting on the cake for Music Academy’s finale. The pre-concert excitement for this sold-out event was reminiscent of a concert at the Granada that featured Gustavo Dudamel with the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra. But, that’s where the similarity ends, in terms of programming and artistic personalities.
Once the lights were dimmed, the Festival Orchestra gave a vital and snappy performance of John Adam’s The Chairman Dances, an outtake from his Nixon in China opera depicting the scene where Mao Zedong dances with his wife. Punctuated contributions from the percussion and bass sections gave this performance a kinda’ minimalist lilt, particularly in sequential melodies that evoke ballroom dancing and rag time riffs.
It was also interesting to observe Gilbert’s conducting technique – a combination of concise baton movements, compact left hand gestures
and a calm control over every aspect of the reading. This was also apparent in the Strauss with Fleming as collaborator. Those who heard the Met’s HD broadcast of Der Rosenkavalier in May are familiar with Fleming’s elegant demeanor and ability to float up the phrase in honey-toned pianissimos.
Fleming walked on stage wearing a form-fitting long red dress with elongated golden shawl. The audience erupted into near pandemonium as she graciously acknowledged the cheers then gave introductory remarks about each of the songs, as super titles were on the fritz. Strauss composed this work at the end of his life and each piece is imbued with atmospheric depth and tonal resignation, particularly with regard to philosophical texts by Hermann Hesse and Joseph von Eichendorff.
Luminaries such as Kirsten Flagstad (who premiered the work in 1950), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Anna Netrebko have infused this work with interpretations that match the quality of their vocal timbre, Fleming’s account contained a sense of intimacy and lyrical purity. Her high-pitched notes in Spring were beautifully placed and At Sunset seemed to dissolve in hushed shades of airy nuances. Just for a moment, all temporal existence seemed suspended in time, until listeners began to stand and clap wildly.
Gilbert conducted with sweeping command, generally keeping the orchestra’s sonority on the leaner side, although finely balanced playing from strings and the concertmaster in When Falling Asleep, added a kaleidoscope of support. With regard to critical evaluation and comparisons -
The Academy Festival Orchestra is made up of highly talented university and music conservatory students who come together happenstance during the summer to work with and receive limited rehearsals from Gilbert and other visitors. The days of one-conductor exclusive orchestras with unlimited rehearsal time seems obsolete, as written about in Harvey Sach’s fascinating new book, Toscanini (Liveright, 2017).
As such, this performance should be viewed as a testament to the acuity and versatility of these young performers who are also developing artists. The Music Academy regime provides a wonderful learning opportunity for many of whom are destined for careers.
After the Strauss faded away in serene overtones, Fleming with Gilbert were called back many times for bows, then offered two encores by Strauss, Cacilie and Morgen – both of which are etched in the art song repertoire of such singers as Lotte Lehmann, Montserrat Caballe and Kiri Te Kanawa. Fleming’s delivery of Morgen gave listeners a moment to pause, reflect and wonder if this might be among her last concert outings?
The second half belonged to the Brahms first symphony, Op. 68 that he worked on for over twenty years. One is reminded of Wagner’s labor- intensive Ring cycle, however musically unaffiliated these two composers were. This work contains full-throttle orchestration and requires totalinvolvement from players and conductor. Gilbert led the group without a score but with an authoritative overview, constantly turning to violins or cellos to ask for more, and getting it.
Ideally, there could have been greater attention to detail and a sense of expressive cohesion within movements, but gutsy contributions from strings, winds and especially brass in the Piu andante chorale-like pronouncement offered a noble introduction to the Allegro non troppo, ma con brio’s mellifluously-spun theme - the tune we’ve all been waiting for. And listeners got a taste of what Gilbert brought to the New York Philharmonic as music director and what is to come with his new post at the NDR Elbphilharmonie. Cheers to you Music Academy of the West.