WE ARE ALL BROTHERS AND SISTERS!

Tucson Symphony Orchestra

BEETHOVEN'S NINTH

José Luis Gomez, conductor

Maria Brea, soprano
Kelley O’Connor, mezzo-soprano*
Richard Trey Smagur, tenor
Kelly Markgraf, baritone

Tucson Symphony Orchestra Chorus · Marcela Molina, interim director

PROGRAM
Richard Wagner: Prelude to The Mastersingers of Nuremberg
Richard Wagner: Wesendonck Lieder*

Ludwig van Beethoven: Symphony No. 9, “Choral”

Friday, 20 January 2023
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Prologue - Regarding Beethoven

After life's most difficult questions and challenges have been asked and directly confronted, we all come together in a blissful bond of global fellowship, the grace of our open embrace of the entire knowable universe, beyond which a loving father–Nature's Creator!–must lie. Rejoice!!

The rapturous evocation and celebration of universal brotherhood, described by Friedrich Schiller and delivered by Beethoven, is an overpowering, cathartic answer and conclusion to the massive tumult which was the social, economic, and political chaos of late 18th century and early 19th century Europe. This affirmation, the setting of Friedrich Schiller's 'Ode to Joy', is doubly powerful coming from so tortured a soul as Ludwig van Beethoven. Initially deeply moved and highly inspired by the French Revolution; then aghast at Napoleon's soon power-hungry, dictatorial and warring ways, Beethoven was concurrently shocked into despair by the realization of his own oncoming deafness.

Morally and intellectually, the French revolution was defeated from within by political power plays, thereby destroying Beethoven's dream, in the early aughts of the 19th century, to compose the musical / emotional equivalent of the oh-so-noble ideals of the Revolution. In trying to understand Beethoven's music from 1803 on--the direction, successive phases, and its far reaches--I find not only the failure of his most prized of the five senses, but the failure of the Revolution, as another fundamental force. That he kept putting off setting Schiller's Ode to Joy--long-beloved by Beethoven--gives hint as to how difficult his internal struggle must have been. Given two-plus frustrating decades with little public progress towards the ideals he so deeply loved and believed in, and his forced resignation about prospects that he might help better the sad state of the world, would not, on the face of it, lead very naturally to giving himself to so positive, hopeful, and celebratory a message as the Ode to Joy.

It is one thing to throw oneself towards the stars as the artistic means to deal with the cursed gift combination of high intelligence, deep sensitivity, and creative genius. But it is quite another to assemble for public consumption, a massive working out of those ideas and feelings, to culminate in supreme affirmation. His reworking of Schiller's text, and the all-encompassing setting created to communicate it, has me wondering. Did the already deaf Beethoven simply want his onetime dream to materialize so badly, that he would now deliver the message in an all-out embrace, despite the now decades of poignant, experienced-forged doubts that such a vision could ever be realized?

"As long as the Austrians have their brown beer and little sausages, they will never revolt."
L.v Beethoven

Famously difficult, often in physical pain, and distraught or depressed, Beethoven was yet tirelessly occupied musically communicating all of the ups, throughs, and downs of his mind-wide-open spiritual process and journey. The results, of course, astound to this day--an almost unfathomable gift from artist to all who came after! Beethoven’s internal revolution never ended, as honestly responding to the world around him drove him deeper into himself, to what we still experience--even two hundred years later--as the shocking exploration of expressive territories he somehow reached and gloriously illuminated. Beethoven's final 5 piano sonatas (pre-Symphony #9) and last 6 string quartets (post-Symphony #9) reach into realms not arrived at by other composers until the 20th century; almost otherworldly. To continue to confront in such free-wheeling yet thorough and intricate detail, the impossible-to-meld inherent contradictions within the human mind, body, and spirit--simply to bear witness and give worthy internal reflection--is why so many of us experience Beethoven as a mastermind of the soul. How could this person, throughout his last 30 years, persistently demand of himself and consistently succeed in communicating the truly potent, mold-breaking ideas flowing through him, no matter how painfully disappointed with both society and his personal, earthly fate? The question answers itself. Like Van Gogh’s two final years, and Nietzsche during his last year sane, this was not a conscious choice. There was no other way. ‘Muss es sein? Es muss sein!’ (Must it be? It must be!) Thank whoever or whatever lies beyond the canopy of stars!

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On This Night

By northern Sonora Desert standards, it is a cold Friday evening in mid-late January. And despite multiple highly transmissible viruses on the loose, close to 2000, mostly long-in-the-tooth, well-musically and culturally educated ladies and gentlemen are quickly filling the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall at the Tucson Convention Center. As well, savvy TSO marketers promoted this concert as a great Dress-up Date Night, and those diverse twenty, thirty, and forty-somethings represented well in house. 

While Richard Wagner is an all-time heavyweight among Romantic Era composers, from the podium, Maestro José Luis Gomez reminded us that ‘Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg’, as opposed to most every other Wagner opera, is a comedy! If you are not familiar with this four-and-a-half-plus hours of music drama, and hear only the prelude, you might not guess this fact. And in fact, in this prelude, there is little retreat from the always-striving, richly orchestrated, “endless melody” methodology of Wagner’s other orchestral preludes, overtures, and interludes, both prior and succeeding.

Some of Die Meistersinger’s comedic elements are in truth satirical, adding pointed weight its humor. You may hear hint of that sarcasm, just past halfway into the Prelude, where chamber-set woodwinds chase each other around in quick little sequences of the main theme. And while Wagner indeed abandoned, for the first time, his continuous melody technique for the opera itself, it seems he could not resist running wild as ever with his most tantalizing, even hypnotic musical signature in its prelude.

The Philosophers

Having had the apple cart of his detailed, previously published aesthetic ideas toppled by reading Artur Schopenhauer's 'The World As Will and Representation', Die Meistersinger, Wagner's only completely original story/libretto, cracks back at his own previous vision of life as "the ecstasy of agony"; his glorification of tragic, forbidden love. In Act Three, Hans Sachs, Wagner's newly christened Schopenhauerian anti-hero specifically rejects the monarchical / aristocratic foundation from which the tragedy of ‘Tristan und Isolde’ derives. 

A young Frederick Nietzsche, who spent half of his first book, The Birth of Tragedy - Out of Spirit of Music, in high, almost sycophantic admiration of Wagner's music dramas, especially Tristan, had lived as an insider in the household of Richard and his young  wife Cosima. As Die Meistersinger became the touchstone for Wagner's turn into German nationalism, his obsequious embrace of simplistic Christian religiosity, and his outspoken anti-semitism, Nietzsche recoiled and denounced Wagner's personal immorality and what he termed the spiritual decadence of his late work. While modern listeners rightly assess the musical value of these works independently of the circumstances they grew out of, the rupture here, laid out in detail by Nietzsche, stretched well into the 20th century.

In Die Meistersinger, Hans Sachs, the anti-heroic Master Singer, is this music drama's true hero, as he proffers his earthly prose. No royalty, conqueror, nor mythological archetype can claim a foothold in this anti-Tannhauser / anti-Tristan landscape. And yet still, musically, this prelude does follow Wagner’s trademark “Portrait of the Hero/Heroine tone poem” narrative--and is one of his best and most loved.

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The Performance

This was José Luis’ maiden voyage with the ‘Prelude to Die Meistersinger’, and it was spectacular. The tempo was judicious; neither plodding nor rushed. The energy, both in tutti and its instrumental groupings, was bursting. The woodwinds, extra busy between tuttis, were outstanding. The strings held their own in the midst of heavy Wagnerian orchestral layering and chaos, and tough music hall acoustics. The allargandi, surging build-ups, and the unforgettable fughetta which ignites the soaring recapitulation, were all skillfully graded, shaded, and emphatically stated. The pounding climaxes hit hard, bringing this power-packed program opener to a deeply satisfying close. I was blown away--ready to jump from my seat in ovation! Then I realized, as others appeared pleased yet not piqued, much less overjoyed, that this audience was mostly here for a Ninth of Beethoven. Okay, then.

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The second work, Wagner’s 'Wesendonck Lieder' for piano and voice, staged here in an intimate, distinctly 20th Century chamber orchestration, was the result of the apparently unconsummated mutual passions between Wagner and Mathilde Wesendonck, wife of one of his patrons, after she penned a set of five poems for the composer. Written while working on ‘Tristan und Isolde’, these poems take a magnifying glass to the far flung emotional extremes triggered in the arousal of forbidden love’s passion. Did this personal experience help power the heady intoxication pulsing through ‘Tristan’?

These songs of longing, agony, passion, loneliness, and spiritual if not physical death, were given a beautifully in-character reading by  mezzo-soprano Kelly O’Connor. Empathy into these poems’ deeply melancholic, subtlety delineated images and reflections is key to successfully conveying the interplay of metaphor, projections, and personal revelations within; a daunting, full-being challenge that here was most generously fulfilled. Bravi!

Hans Werner Henze’ orchestration, utilizing only one instrument per type, is a wonder in itself, as the conjured sonorities comprise an elegant match for the shifting, morphing images and feelings they undergird. It almost goes without saying that Maestro Gomez and this TSO chamber ensemble gave excellent accompaniment for these songs; dynamics and timing always relaxed while yet well-controlled. Whether or not this particular proclivity follows from José’s previous life as Violinista or not, his orchestral accompaniments are always right on; awareness of and deference to the soloist’s interpretive lead, with matching complimentary support, is ubiquitous. These are not encore, bravura type pieces--almost the opposite. This audience applauded warmly, many eventually rising in appreciation of this ear-opening rendition of a unique set and setting of songs.
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Reflecting on his second run with the ‘Ode to Joy’, Maestro José points simply to feeling more poised. Coming from a director who most always appears quite poised, what I sensed in the performance was an ease with his commitment to executing an interpretation focused on the inherent fury, drive, and drama of the message--in this case, as the foundation and means to approach and realize the wild upcoming, oncoming odyssey and climactic poetic exaltation. No hesitation. The musical and dramatic elements--truly vast in this setting of joyous prose--are all, by means of great awareness and direction, well in hand.

The opening Allegro ma non troppo is one of the most powerful declarative statements ever conceived and corralled into sonata allegro form, with several structural and thematic surprises heightening the already “heavy earth with an eye to heaven” emotional content of the movement. In my mind, this is some of Beethoven's best writing. The sustained intensity is breathtaking in itself. That he is able musically, with counter themes, to balance that intensity, seems impossible, and inspires awe. And that particular balancing of sharp intensity with sudden fluid, florid relief is one trait and technique of Beethoven that Brahms assimilated and further advanced in exaggeration--think the final few minutes of the Passacaglia Finale of Brahms 4th Symphony. That out of nowhere, Beethoven introduces a dwindling dirge--Why?--into the movement's coda, which is then summarily stomped into its own grave as the drama concludes, sends my spine ashiver every time I hear it. Maestro Gomez guided the TSO through this masterpiece more swiftly than most modern listeners are accustomed, although still rather relaxed compared to Beethoven’s own metronome marking:  quarter note = 88! So whether you miss or long for the crushing effect made possible by a less strident tempo or not, this pace adheres far closer to the composer’s intention, and I believe keeps the highly contrasting, airy second theme from drifting too far astray, thus helping keep the dramatic narrative intact.

The famous and/or infamous Molto vivace / Presto, another celebrated and highly unique Beethoven creation, is a wonder of perpetual motion--dramatically punctuated with startling pauses and cut-offs. With music so very familiar to many listeners, including myself, and maybe over-familiar to some, I consciously attempted to let the sounds simply wash over me. I find it impossible to not anticipate what I know is about to happen along the way, yet if I can stay open, then a lithe performance will have the power to guide my foreknowledge into a moment-by-moment delight. In this performance, rhythmic precision and fresh, alert timing of the breaks and pauses riveted my attention. This was great work; an invigorating, crystalline gem of tight ensemble.

The Adagio molto e cantabile is not really a weak link in this symphony, yet may seem so because it provides the only substantive space for reflection, an extended flow of less wildly swinging emotions, and a steadying earful of strings and winds working sweet harmonies through its patiently progressing double variations. It is a finely crafted adagio, in the midst what is otherwise a monument of high contrast intensity. I find myself drawn to hear the call of this movement beyond the concert hall, away from the high drama surrounding it within the symphony. As I am partial to the woodwind timbres as they rise into the Linda Ronstadt Music Hall, their interplay here with strings and horns made this respite before the oncoming upheaval all the more welcome.

In both structure and content, the Ode to Joy is, in and of itself, a monster; difficult to perform for everyone involved, no matter what, when, or who. The vocal writing, much of either it sung over orchestra or in a cappella duets or independent-voiced quartet, is awkward at best, and so demanding as to be nearly impossible to convincingly execute, save for a few dedicated operatic virtuosi. Here, the voice of soprano Marisa Brea stood out for the ease, power, and clarity of her delivery. The choral writing is also quite challenging, yet holds the distinct advantage that Beethoven seizes their lines as full orchestral instruments, which soon become pure magic. This musical master stuffs almost every possible musical form into this Finale--slightly insane on the face of it--yet the double fugue for chorus and orchestra stands out for its brilliant conception, stunning contrapuntal craftmanship, striking originality, and emphatic declarative setting of its philosophical message. Maestro Gomez’ clear, confident, detailed, and polished direction here gives evidence of a conductor who thrives on harnessing and navigating the most challenging of large, chaotic, musical forces. The reward, hard-earned, was an orchestra, soloists, and chorus executing at a very high level. I reveled in this experience. On the surface, José’s Beethoven tempi are swift. He has commented that his first movement tempo is a jolt for many listeners. Yet if the intention is successful to concentrate and harness the music’s energy and focus its passion, in service to the non-classical, outrageous statement being made, then objections to the tempo become moot. The method to this madness is that it raises the potential amplitude of expression, exaggerating Beethoven’s many little surprises and pointed agogic moments. Applied to a composer who said, “To play a wrong note is insignificant, to play without passion is inexcusable.”, I can only imagine Herr Beethoven admiring this steady, studied dedication from an interpreter. In many ways the Ode to Joy was and still is an extreme high wire act. Yet this evening, the Ninth of Beethoven was so well organized and executed as to  appear almost matter-of-fact. Beethoven's artistic revolution is still a matter of fact!

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Everything a long time listener of Beethoven's 9th might want to hear or experience, was there tonight to receive and luxuriate in its bear hug embrace. And if you had never heard Beethoven's 9th, or not heard it live before, this performance could easily trigger a new awakening. Beethoven, the revolutionary, still reaches us; direct, broad, deep, brilliant, complex, undeniable, insuperable, and on this night, supremely uplifting. Take THAT, two hundred years of often overbearing and needlessly magnified interpretations--bravi tutti!

The crowd went crazy at the exhilarating conclusion of the symphony, letting out their very well-earned cheers and adulation. The experience of hearing dedicated professional musicians perform so well ensemble, always warms my heart, a gift I savor and celebrate. This program was a smashing success, drawing a long, joyous ovation for a fine performance. Thank you, Maestro, TSO, TSO Chorus, and vocal soloists. Thank you, Beethoven, and to all who came after!

~ Steven Gendel

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