Opening Gala, San Francisco Symphony

By Harvey Steiman

Reprinted with permission from Seen and Heard – Music Web’s Live Opera, Concert and Recital Reviews

Renee Fleming, soprano; music of Copeland, Seeger, Adams, Ravel, Puccini and Prokofiev. Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco, 19.9.2007 (HS)

Leave it to Michael Tilson Thomas to put together an opening-night gala program that proves you don’t have to dumb things down for the big spenders, even if you want to keep things in a party mood. It didn’t hurt that most of the program involved music the orchestra had been playing on its three-week European tour, and they were in prime form.

The concert opened with three short American pieces, played as a sort of suite. In Copeland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, Tilson Thomas drew sonorous legato playing from the brass and soulful attention to dynamics and tone from the percussion. Ruth Crawford Seeger’s “Andante for Strings,” less gratifying to the ear than Barber’s more famous Adagio but emotionally potent, added a raw edge to the mix. Then the whole orchestra climbed aboard John Adams’ thrill ride for Short Ride in a Fast Machine, a 1986 piece that demonstrates just how Adams was transcending minimalism to become one of the truly original voices among American composers. The three pieces made a strong cumulative impact.

The presence of soprano Renée Fleming added lustre to the occasion. She provided a series of exquisite moments in a ravishing account of Ravel’s highly perfumed Schéhérazade, a pre-intermission encore of the “Jewel Song” from Gounod’s Faust, and two post-intermission Puccini arias.

In the sultry Ravel songs, Fleming’s pure sound and ecstatic facial and body expressions combined with sensitive, aromatic playing by the orchestra. Paul Renzi, recently retired as principal flute, returned to play the solo in the second song, “La flûte enchantée.” His sound and Fleming’s melded well. The gauzy final pages of “L’indifferent” felt like late hours at a jazz club.

Tilson Thomas tipped off the “Jewel Song” by flourishing a diamond necklace and presenting it to Fleming, which brought us back to the spirit of a gala. In the music Fleming’s rich sound was sometimes at odds with the agility required for the coloratura, but she’s a stunning actress, and it worked. The same could be said of “O mio babbino caro” from Gianni Schicchi, the second of two Puccini arias. She didn’t sound very girlish, but the general intent was there.

By far the best was “Vissi d’arte,” from Tosca. Fleming has not sung many Toscas, but I would walk a long way to hear in the entire role after this. Seldom does a singer with such beauty of sound get the drama so well, not with histrionics but with extraordinary vocal acting. You could feel the throb of desperation underlying the words, and those two notes, a wordless falling half step that precedes the final phrase, demonstrated just why Fleming’s vocalism is so special. She made the transition between the notes heartbreaking by momentarily making her sound white, then enriching it in an eye-opening mezza di voce, trailing to a long diminuendo. In about 10 seconds, she crystallized the character’s emotions in pure sound.

The final item on the program, Scenes from Romeo and Juliet, assembled six set pieces from Prokofiev’s ballet. This was one of the pieces on the orchestra’s tour, and their comfort level with the music made the balcony scene flow gracefully, and the rhythmic vitality in the duel summon up everything but the dancers.

To bring back the celebratory frame of mind, the encore was the Polonaise from Evgeny Onegin, played with panache.