Rimsky-Korsakov: Russian Easter Overture, op. 36
Respighi:Church Windows
Debussy:Sunken Cathedral
Sung:The Circle Closes
Respighi:Church Windows
Debussy:Sunken Cathedral
Sung:The Circle Closes
The fact that the evening would be unique was evident at entering the Bob Carr: two semicircular trusses hung from the ceiling, one at the proscenium and the other at the back of the orchestra: each fitted with a half dozen or so moving lights and LED sets, as well as color cans. The lights in the back projected colors like a large lotus during the first half, though beautiful - all of these lights brought the noise floor of the hall up so far that it masked the intricate details of the solo sections in the first two works. I would have definitely preferred that the system not be booted up until the intermission.
The excitement in the hall was palpable; the audiences are really into their concerts, and they love Stella's work, and the lighting arrays just added to the anticipation - looking like a rock concert. Plus, the orchestra was huge - the biggest I've ever seen on the stage.
Maestro Wilkins chose a unique program - about color. The first two, though by oft performed composers Rimsky-Korsakov and Respighi, were both new to me. The RK was delightful and light - quite modern for his time no doubt; an excellent example of tremendous orchestration of multiple ideas through a wide array of timbres and dynamics. The Respighi music captured Bible story scenes in a cinematic short story way, brilliantly over rendering the characters much as a stained glass window would. Each of the movements contrasted from the other like chapters in a fast reading well loved short novel: the piece flew by too fast, ending too soon. Delightful. Dr. Brodie, principal trumpet, got to show off his lovely tone and vibrato even in the high tessitura of this work, though a few pitch problems plagued his performance. The Debussy was simply gorgeous - a piece for piano that inspired me as a high schooler - that I'd never heard in orchestral form. My favorite of the evening.
Stella Sung's "Circle Closes" is a 30+ minute work that filled the second half with sound, fog and light. All of her works for orchestra with the OPO have been multimedia pieces and this was the most impressive to date. In two parts, as she explains like yin and yang, the first half of the work is a long build and the second was a meditation. The opening scene was right out of Disney's Fantasia: The lights were pitch black, and a bright cone of light from the back of the stage illuminated Chris, silhouetting him just as Leopold Stokowski opened - his right hand already high in the air. What a fun nod to history that was! The first 5 or 6 minutes were enthralling: flowing string lines catapulted exciting counterpoint while vivid color backdrops marked architecture. Melodic, rhythmic and textural material was presented and developed, without a focus on any specific melody (I'd like to hear it again - without the lights). This material, a short-long-long/step-leap-step, was grabbed and repeated in bunches - shifted and woven into blocks of repetitions and sequences both in a microscopic and macroscopic way. Adding another layer of crescendo chords in the brass began to pull the harmonic result into a pandiatonicism reminding me of Harrison or Adams. Some minutes in, the music fabric was punctuated with explosively loud repeating percussion bursts. Taking full advantage of the drum battery, and adding toms and bongos (small toms?), marimba, bells, timps, piano - the work continued to add layer after layer. The visceral power of the drums along with the choreographed lights drew the enthralled audience in like a rock concert. Much like a work of orchestral rock, Glen Branca or Taiko Drum work, these bursts added yet another unique layer to the fabric, restating and adding to the rhythmic kernal of the work functioning like a rock band rhythm section instead of their traditional use as a color emphasis. The lighting and voluminous dry-ice clouds brought theater to the stage, magnifying the orchestra as something pounding and writhing in hell. As the layers shifted and built towards a huge climax, the loud, exciting drumming completely covered the orchestra - perhaps too often. That lion was let out of the cage and could not be put back in until the build was over. The peak took too long to reach, and the thundering felt unnecessarily prolonged but cranked up to 11 so it avoided losing its power - and this is where the lighting, which used very slow movements, helped to bring the first half of the work to its peak. The second half (no breaks in this work) provided beautiful, slow-winding sonorities as a repose to all of the activity. The use of 4 crystal bowls was wonderful. Beautifully lit and placed both in front and in the balcony, the sound of the bowls filled the space easily, placed and beautifully lit; their players standing like priests and priestesses behind them. Two pairs of the same note were played, F and A, each providing a healing tone, and as described in the Wednesday preconcert informance at the Goldman residence, energized the heart chakra and the third eye chakra. I loved how the bowls would temporarily drift in an out of perfect harmony, creating a beautiful turning of sound through slow beating and the mix of their sound with the woodwinds.
Stella Sung created a work for the modern audience; a spectacle that will not be forgotten for years. I'm sure that there were many folks in the audience who had never experienced a rock concert who were absolutely dazzled or discomfited. Most importantly, I felt elated at the end of this work - that I had been through an ordeal of sorts; an initiation by sound where the sunrise broke through darkness. This was the feeling I wanted my audiences of Vision of the Earth to feel but I did not generate. Though heavy handed in its use of acoustic and color power, this kind of production may be key to the success of orchestras and should be welcomed. All in all it was great fun! At the same time, this kind of multimedia power must be used with caution so we do not allow ourselves or our audiences to become addicted to it; feeling let down if a night contains 'just an orchestra'. Kudos are in order for Stella for bringing this new experience to Orlando and Christopher Wilkins, who we can count on to balance the new with the old, the majestic with the delicate, the uncomfortable with the comfortable.
