RIDGEFIELD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA – Saturday, December 4, 2010
Reviewed by Courtenay Caublé
Members of the Fairfield County Chorale were featured last Saturday evening at the Anne Richardson Auditorium in a Ridgefield Symphony concert that showcased both the orchestra itself and the guest choral group in a varied program that included Rossini’s Semiramide Overture, the opening movement of Tchaikovsky’s Opus 48 Serenade for Strings, Haydn’s Te Deum for the Empress Maria Therese, and two Brahms works -- his Liebeslieder Waltzes and his Symphony No. 3 in F Major.
With splendid and musically rewarding performances all around, the evening’s only flaw was that acoustic focus and projection seemed compromised (perhaps by the stage manipulation needed to accommodate the combined organizations), dampening sound quality a bit and causing the chorus (standing behind the orchestra) to sound distant, with the words of the sung texts lost in transit.
Except for that, though, the concert was a winner. Rossini can always be counted on for rousing concert openers, and Maestro Gerald Steichen’s reading of the Semiramide Overture fulfilled the promise. The broad opening melody assigned to four horns was lovely, and the frolicsome remainder a musical treat. Steichen consistently manages well-considered, musically revealing interpretations, and his graceful podium technique can be as visually helpful to his audience as to the musicians who are his instrument.
Similarly well managed, the contrasting movement from Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings, with its moving and lush opening and closing theme and a middle section replete with masterfully conceived inner voices, was beautiful. And with Brahms a particular favorite with Maestro Steichen, the Symphony No. 3 was predictably rewarding throughout, but especially both the poignant third movement, where Steichen’s sensitive management of phrasing and nuances had a telling effect, and the complex and multifaceted Finale.
With two very different works to showcase its quality, the Fairfield County Chorale was a treat to hear. Haydn’s Te Deum, a majestic and wonderfully rich work, came through with expressive fervor, with Maestro Steichen coordinating the combined human and orchestral voices with sensitive control.
In contrast, the Liebeslieder (Lovesong) Waltzes were a charming diversion, particularly with the help of Steichen’s explanatory commentary on the sometimes moving and sometimes naughty textual content of the various songs – further evidence of the RSO Music Director’s additional talents as both master of ceremonies and actor. Afterwards, Fairfield County Chorale Director Johannes Somary, who was in the audience, came forward both to congratulate the Maestro and to accept well-deserved applause for his own contribution.
Although Saturday evening’s program ostensibly was to end with the Brahms symphony, no December RSO concert can ignore the Holidays. This time the bow to Christmas was a spirited orchestral arrangement of “Jingle Bells,” complete with the sounds of sleigh bells, the cracking of a whip, and strolling carolers providing a sort of quadraphonic rendering of the familiar song. It was like a welcome dessert at the end of a satisfying meal.
January 11, 2011