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University Centre Auditorium
October 22, 2006
The early 19th century was a crucial time in the history of the symphony. Joseph Haydn had completed his astonishing series of works and, in the process, had more or less singlehandedly defined symphonic form: four movements, sonata form first, slow second (often variations), quicker, triple-time third movement and rondo finale.
In the course of the first decade of the century, Beethoven would begin the process of testing these newly-established rules to destruction.
But it is in the nature of things that the trailblazers are precisely that: lone figures, mapping out what is still terra icognita for their contemporaries.
What, then, of Beethoven's contemporaries? Many of them did write symphonies, using the style and "rules" established by Haydn. Today, in an age often dominated by the quest for newness and "originality", these symphonies are often ignored.
Such is certainly the case with the two symphonies of Carl Maria von Weber, the first of which closed Sunday afternoon's concert.
But, as quickly became clear during the performance, Weber was not even a competent composer of Haydnesque symphonies, much less a ground-breaker like Beethoven.
The first movement is easily the least satisfactory; as the composer himself admitted, it is more of an overture than a symphonic movement. Certainly it does not have the thematic or structural cohesion of a true symphony, but seemed more like a succession of atmospheric episodes.
The succeeding movements are improvements - the second, in particular, featured some nice flute passages, courtesy of Richard Volet - yet Weber's lack of any sense of development fatally undermines the symphony, no matter how well it is performed.
And although it was mostly well-played, there was a certain feeling of fatigue from the orchestra; ensemble was not quite as crisp as we have come to expect and rhythms tended to plod rather than spring. Perhaps scheduling this performance immediately after the final POV opera performance (Saturday night) was not such a good idea.
The other major work in Sunday's concert was the Violin Concerto No.4 by Mozart, in which the soloist was VS assistant concertmaster Christi Meyers.
I have made my feelings about the Mozart violin concertos known before (I don't much care for them) and so any comments should be tempered with that knowledge.
Sunday's performance was, I think, good but not one to change my opinion. Meyers displayed an excellent, singing line and her first movement's cadenza was finely controlled (as indeed was the second's). Balances with the accompaniment were also mainly good but once again that feeling of fatigue - as witness the opening of the finale - kept the performance earthbound.
The overtures which opened the two halves of the concert - Weber's Silvana and Rossini's La Scala di Seta - were enjoyable enough, although both composers wrote far more interesting and exciting overtures.
Although I was clearly in the minority, I must say that I did not enjoy the concert very much; it either needed more energetic performance or more interesting repertoire - some works deserve to be left on the shelf.
MiV HomeLast modified: Mon Oct 23 12:12:28 PDT 2006