SF Symphony knows how to throw a party
Soprano Jessye Norman made up for any lack of substance with incomparable style last Tuesday in a rare appearance with the San Francisco Symphony. At 65 she is semi-retired from operatic arias, the mainstay of a famous career, but helped open the Symphony’s 2010 season with Aaron Copland’s In the Beginning and a set of Duke Ellington jazz songs.
Neither crooner nor belter, she forged her own crossover terrain, mixing the bright Italianate vowels of opera with jazzy whisperings and glides.
But this was also a grand party and send off—a season-opener gala and an au revoir to the Symphony, which left for Lucerne the next day. In a nod to partygoers, the choice of music was festive. Michael Tilson Thomas opened with Hector Berlioz’ Roman Carnival Overture, in which supremely tight brass fanfares gave way to a love duet sung by English horn, a sound both rich and delicate. Clean “diction” and lively dynamics set the holiday tone.
MTT, a conductor whose remarks are often thoughtful and engaging, introduced the next piece. “Copland was an amazingly generous composer. I played for him when I was 18 and I still remember the sound of his voice… (dropping into a broad New York accent) ‘That’s right, my boy!’” He went on to speak of the simplicity that Copland sought, from shape-notes to popular song. “In the Beginning, written in 1947, is an homage to the vocal tradition of that time.”
Jessye Norman sang the soprano solo over select members of the SF Symphony Chorus, with a frugal simplicity that recalled MTT’s remarks.
The chorus dropped down at the end of phrases into soft drones, wavelets that lifted Norman’s voice without obscuring it. Their soft diamond finishes and consummate minor harmonies were high points of the concert.
Copland’s treatment of Genesis was not, however. Repetitive falling phrases held an air of disinterest, curiously removed from a sense of religiosity. And indeed, Copland’s spirituality is more evident in the slow-opening chords of Appalachian Spring and The Tender Land than in this more overt form.
But it was a decent prelude to Ellington.
And the other high point: Mark Inouye’s trumpet solo in “It Don’t Mean a Thing (if It Ain’t Got That Swing)”. Though he upstaged our diva with silvered mute and a long growl, Norman turned to face him, back to the audience, and sang across the trumpet with snaky vowels. Their private moment was an unexpected delight.
MTT closed with Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé, Suite No. 2. It was a celebration of French color, with harp, flute and bass evoking a forest waking into day. A piccolo’s runs sounded nearly capricious despite the speed; then violins took the theme as winds fluttered. Tim Day contributed a spectacular flute solo, liquidly exotic with fiery runs. Ravel’s writing for the flute—and piccolo and alto flute—presaged Syrinx, which Debussy wrote the next year.
The suite changed to celebratory, bright and almost brazen, to mirror the patrons. Spangles, brocades and bare shoulders filled the hall—and then shimmered (or shimmied) as they rose for a third salutation.
The SF Symphony returns from Europe later this month, and offers a free noon concert on Friday, September 24 in Justin Herman Plaza. Information on this and their new season (Tchaikovsky’s great Symphony No. 4 also that week!) is at www.sfsymphony.org.
—Adam Broner
Photo of Jessye Norman courtesy of SF Symphony. This article previously appeared in the Piedmont Post.