June 1 & 2, 2024
Jones Hall
Houston, Texas – USA
Houston Symphony, Juraj Valčuha, conductor; Rachel Willis-Sørensen, soprano.
Richard STRAUSS: Symphonic Interlude: “Träumerei am Kamin” from Intermezzo Op. 72
Richard STRAUSS: Four Last Songs, Op. posth.
Richard STRAUSS: An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64
Lawrence Wheeler | 3 JUN 2024
Saturday evening at Jones Hall, music director Juraj Valčuha led the Houston Symphony in the first concert of their Richard Strauss Festival. Soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen was soloist in Strauss’s Four Last Songs. Also featured was An Alpine Symphony.
The concert began with Strauss’s Träumerei am Kamin (“Dreaming by the Fireplace”), one of four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo, a comic opera first performed in 1924. Placed between the fifth and sixth scenes of the First Act, the Interlude’s tranquil nature lies in contrast to the opera’s main theme of domestic quarreling—a thinly disguised reference to Strauss’s own tempestuous marriage to Pauline de Ahna, a famous soprano.
Using a reduced string section, Valčuha ushered in the syncopated second violin rhythm followed by soft cello and English horn melodies. As the music unfolds, the violins join the celli, then violas and clarinet. Valčuha maintained the indicated soft dynamics while drawing out sensitive and sonically expressive playing. Following Strauss’s masterfully scored orchestration, Valčuha built the dynamics to a climax, then gradually died away. While not a typical concert opener, the piece set the stage for the next piece.
Strauss’s Four Last Songs are considered some of the most beautiful and sublime music ever written. Written a year before his death, they are sensual and nostalgic. It is not uncommon to have performances met with tears. Tonight’s performance elicited dry-eyed admiration.
Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony made an outstanding recording of the Four Last Songs with Renée Fleming 25 years ago. Tonight’s soloist, soprano Rachel Willis-Sørensen, recorded the Four Last Songs just over a year ago with Andris Nelsons leading the Gewandhausorchester. Tonight, she read her part from a music stand, a possible sign of insecurity. Hermann Hesse wrote the text for the first three songs. In the first, “Spring,” he writes, “A shudder runs through my limbs at your blissful presence.” Given Willis-Sørensen’s rather dark-sounding interpretation, it would seem to be a shudder of apprehension rather than anticipation.
Rachel Willis-Sørensen
(credit: Lukas Beck)
The second song, “September,” speaks of yearning for rest and growing weary. Here, her voice was less audible in the lower register, compounded by balance issues with the orchestra. With the third song, “When Going to Sleep,” Willis-Sørensen sang with more tenderness and emotional involvement. The gorgeous ascending melody, first introduced by solo violin, showcased the considerable power and silvery quality of her upper register. Unfortunately, Willis-Sørensen tended to punch those high notes without sufficient preparation to preserve the melodic line.
The fourth song has text by Josef von Eichendorff. Titled “At Sunset,” it says, “soon it is time for sleep,” “loneliness,” “silent peace,” “how tired we are,” and finally, “death.” Strauss quotes his own tone poem, Death and Transfiguration, at the end. With the vocal part written primarily in the lower register, a softer accompaniment would have been preferable, and a slower tempo would have informed the text. Willis-Sørensen carries with her an extraordinary vocal instrument that was displayed rather unevenly this evening. Her prodigious talent invites repeat hearings.
Valčuha led with animation, sometimes at the expense of balance with the soloist. Concertmaster Yoonshin Song played the violin solos excellently but without applying a vocally-based vibrato. Nathan Cloeter played the important French horn solos with a noble and secure sound.
Despite its title, An Alpine Symphony (“Eine Alpensinfonie”) is a tone poem for large orchestra. Written by Strauss in 1915, it is one of Strauss’s largest non-operatic works and is the last of his “tone poems.” The program of An Alpine Symphony consists of twenty-two continuous sections of music that depict the experiences of eleven hours spent climbing an Alpine mountain, from just before dawn to the following nightfall.
Strauss had already produced an orchestral work inspired by the German philosopher Nietzsche’s book Thus Spoke Zarathustra and thought of calling this work “The Antichrist” after Nietzsche’s book of the same title. Strauss wrote in his diary in May 1911 that it “represents moral purification through one’s own strength, liberation through work, and worship of eternal, magnificent nature.” However, Strauss dropped this title in favor of An Alpine Symphony, and the link to Nietzsche was obscured. Strauss drew inspiration from the Heimgarten mountain in Southern Bavaria. He also borrowed musical ideas from Beethoven, Bruch, Wagner, Brahms, and Schoenberg. For example, the opening section, “Nacht” (“Night”) imitates the opening of Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht (“Transfigured Night”).
This evening, there were 117 musicians onstage and several additional brass players backstage. As led by Juraj Valčuha, the assembled forces gave a blockbuster performance of this infrequently performed work. The Jones Hall decibel level reached new heights, while Valčuha showed an elevated emotional and expressive level of conducting.
Except for a few brief moments of misaligned ensemble, the Houston Symphony musicians tackled the demanding score with aplomb. The string sections were cohesive, with the caveat that the intricate difficulties of some passages preempt perfection of execution. The augmented first violin section had well-done vertiginous lines corresponding to the mountain’s summit. The second violins played with energy and responded quickly to Valčuha’s direction. The celli played with their customary unified and beautiful sound, showing accuracy in ascending scale passages. The strings were serenely composed as a unit in the “Sunset” section, in which Valčuha began softer than the indicated piano espressivo and arched expressively.
Numerous notable solos warrant a musician roll call. Oboist Jonathan Fischer played with uncommon color and freedom; clarinetist Mark Nuccio added involved expression coupled with a singularly beautiful sound; flutist Aralee Dorough, English horn Anne Leek, bassoonist Rian Craypo, and cellist Brinton Smith were on full display in their solos. Leonardo Soto contributed brilliant timpani playing, and Mark Hughes stellar trumpet playing. Robert Johnson played the extensive French horn solos beautifully, with one solo sounding just like a singing voice. The dual harps glistened while the percussion section added shake, rattle, and roll during the “Thunderstorm” section.
Taken as a whole, the Houston Symphony with Juraj Valčuha gave An Alpine Symphony a peak performance. The audience provided an extensive standing ovation in appreciation. The orchestra should make an excellent impression at the League of American Orchestras National Conference, which takes place in Houston next week. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Houston Symphony: houstonsymphony.org/
- Juraj Valčuha: jurajvalcuha.com
- Rachel Willis-Sørensen: rachelwillissorensen.com
Read more by Lawrence Wheeler.
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