Conductor Simone Young @ Dallas Symphony (Pärt, Britten, Strauss)
—Wayne Lee Gay
A single soft chime on the pitch A announces the beginning of this weekend's always intriguing, often entrancing concert by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Australian guest conductor Simone Young.
That single chime, the first note in Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten of 1977, magically shuts out the noise of the world and pulls the listener into seven minutes of pure musical serenity. Scored for strings and a single bell, the work, generally considered a twentieth-century classic, has never before been performed in Dallas. Simple and somehow complex at the same time (actually a canon on a descending A minor scale), Cantus creates a warm blanket of sound, inviting the listener to be swept into its beauty. Conductor Young and the DSO strings present the work with flawless devotion.
In a wonderfully logical programming strategy, the concert continues with Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto of 1940, featuring co-concertmaster Nathan Olson as soloist. Just as the young Pärt wrote the Cantus in memory of a composer he deeply admired, Britten wrote the Violin Concerto as a memorial to the dead of the Spanish Civil War. As in Pårt's Cantus, the mood is serious, but definitely more reflective than mournful.
And, in contrast to the static brevity of Pårt's Cantus, Britten's Violin Concerto presents a rich series of ideas and musical events. Britten's impressive output of choral, operatic, and symphonic works were still in his future when he wrote the Violin Concerto, but there is plenty here to foreshadow the combination of drama and lyricism that characterizes his entire body of work. Soloist Olson shows off a huge array of touches and technical facility here, along with admirable insight into the profound thoughtfulness and wonderful contrasts of the work. Conductor Young and the orchestra collaborate impressively in a work that demands complete emotional partnership of soloist and orchestra.
After intermission, Young and the orchestra present Richard Strauss' lavish, Nietzsche-inspired tone poem Also sprach Zarathustra of 1895. For the twenty-first-century listener, the work is somewhat burdened by its association with the controversial nihilist philosopher; even more burdensome is the fact that the famous opening fanfare has become one of the most bothersome and abused ear-worms of the modern world.
For the listener who can justify—or at least accept—the inspiration of the work and ignore the pop-culture associations of the main theme, Also sprach Zarathustra offers many rewards, including rich lyricism, gorgeous late romantic harmonies, and equally gorgeous orchestration. Conductor Young takes a no-holds-barred approach, allowing the music to arrive at numerous high points, which, in this case, works compellingly. Strauss did not make life easy for orchestra players, but did give them ample opportunity to create stunning moments, a challenge the musicians of the Dallas Symphony fulfill beautifully.
WHEN: April 11-14, 2024
WHERE: Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas
WEB: dallassymphony.org
