Juraj Valčuha, music director of the Houston Symphony. (credit: Michael Breyer)

Houston Symphony soars with Dvořák and Martinů in revitalized Jones Hall

CONCERT REVIEW:
Houston Symphony
October 4, 5, and 6, 2024
Jones Hall
Houston, Texas – USA

Houston Symphony, Juraj Valčuha, conductor; Svatopluk Sem, baritone; Houston Symphony Chorus (Julia Hall, interim director; Joshua Habermann, choral preparation); Houston Chamber Choir (Robert Simpson, founder & artistic director; Betsy Cook Weber, artistic director designate).
Bryce DESSNER: Mari
Bohuslav MARTINŮ: Czech Rhapsody
Antonín DVOŘÁK : An Alpine Symphony, Op. 64

Lawrence Wheeler | 7 OCT 2024

The Houston Symphony opened Juraj Valčuha’s third season as Music Director with a trio of concerts at Jones Hall on October 4, 5, and 6. The beginning of a mini-festival titled Bohemian Rhapsody, the featured work was Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.“ The Houston Symphony Chorus and Houston Chamber Choir joined Czech baritone Svatopluk Sem in Bohuslav Martinů’s Czech Rhapsody. The Saturday and Sunday concerts included Bryce Dessner’s Mari. These concerts are the first in the newly adjusted acoustics of Jones Hall. This review is from October 5.

Bryce Dessner is a classically trained rock guitarist for The National, and a contemporary music and film soundtrack composer. He has said, “The directness of rock music can really help a classical composer. A classical composer can easily disappear down their own rabbit hole of self-interest.“ Mari, named after the Basque goddess of the forest, was conceived during the pandemic of 2019-2021. At that time, most orchestras fell silent as musicians and audiences stayed home. Dessner imagined what it would be like if orchestras never played again, and the great works gradually faded from memory. In Mari, he briefly and rather obscurely quotes two Bohemian composers, Antonín Dvořák and Gustav Mahler. The piece was written and dedicated to Semyon Bychkov, who conducted the premiere in June 2021.

Mari is a sound collage. Martial rhythmic elements alternate with solemn, string-dominated adagios. The propulsive, industrial rhythms at times recall Steve Reich, while the fluttering woodwind sections recall the work of multi-reedist Colin Stetson, an artist who, like Dessner, manages to embody and combine academic and popular music. Descending glissandos (slides) in the violins are followed by upward scale flourishes. Brief woodwind and brass solos suggest sadness, regret, and, lastly, resignation. Aside from these rather brief expressive moments, the piece represents various states of mind: alienation, angst, unease, and confusion. Full appreciation of the work requires the listener to trust and literally go with the flow. After all, it is not easy to relive the experience of the pandemic, which is the basis of this piece. Valčuha led an attentive and highly controlled performance. After a somewhat tremulous opening, the orchestra quickly adjusted to the hall’s more detailed and responsive sound stage, delivering an excellent rendition.


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Czech composer Bohuslav Martinů drew on his Bohemian and Moravian roots for musical ideas, often incorporating Czech folk song elements in his music. One of nearly 400 works, Czech Rhapsody was an early work, composed in 1918 when he was 28. Written in a Romantic style, it was premiered in 1919 to great acclaim just after the end of World War One and the founding of the new nation of Czechoslovakia. It combines solemn religiosity with fervent nationalism. Scored for orchestra, baritone, mixed choir, and organ, there are elements evocative of Smetana and Brahms. Some of the string tremolos and building climaxes recall an earlier Bohemian composer, Gustav Mahler. Chords consist mostly of triads but are given surprising modulations along with sudden dynamic changes. This work sounds far different from the neoclassical compositional style he developed in the early 1930s that is more associated with Martinů.

Valčuha led a stylistically informed performance, highly expressive and rich in color, all enhanced by the improved acoustic environment. Starting with the violas strongly leading a Brahmsian opening using motifs from the Saint Wenceslas Chorale, the music quickly unfolded to fill the stage and surround the audience with glorious sounds. At one point, the orchestra stopped suddenly, and the choir entered pianissimo with a compelling unified sound combined with exquisite clarity. Their arrangement on risers had the four voices (soprano, alto, tenor, bass) mixed rather than separated into sections, as has been heard in past concerts. This setup worked perfectly in the newly altered acoustics. Of note was their choreographed rising in perfect unison, first unobtrusively before their soft entrance and later in one fell swoop to simultaneously sing fortissimo. From a performance perspective, it was thrilling. Musically and technically, I cannot recall the chorus sounding better. The addition of the organ gave a Protestant church reference. The organ sound was projected through two huge fixed speakers suspended on either side of the stage. The excellent sound did not betray its electronic origin. One of many orchestral highlights was a rhythmically sparkling fugal section.

Baritone soloist Svatopluk Sem sang with reverence and quiet confidence. Standing at the front edge of the stage, he projected easily, his bright and slightly nasal timbre serving to illuminate the patriotic Czech text extolling the Czech Motherland. He projected even during unison passages with the chorus and full orchestra. Czech Rhapsody ran the stylistic gamut, from Bohemian-tinged, Protestant religious hymnal and medieval poetic rhapsody to Czech nationalistic fervor. Given its emotional impact, it is surprising to note that this is only the fifth performance of record in the past 25 years. Thanks go to Juraj Valčuha for bringing it to us.


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Dvořák wrote his 9th Symphony, titled “From the New World,” between January and May 1893, while he was in New York (1892-1895). His summers were spent in Spillville, Iowa, a Czech-speaking community near a Native-American reservation. He studied music of American origin such as African-American spirituals and Native-American music. As he noted in a contemporaneous interview, both used pentatonic scales similar to Scottish music. We can hear these elements woven into his music written in America, which produced some of his greatest and most popular works. These include the New World Symphony, the “American” String Quartet, the “American” Viola Quintet, and his Cello Concerto.

One of the most well-known works in the classical music canon, the New World Symphony has been performed countless times, more than all but a handful of symphonic works. It would be fairly easy for an orchestral player to succumb to complacency. That was nowhere to be seen or heard this evening as Valčuha brought his own interpretive vision and personal energies to the performance.

Of note were the tempi, which were generally fast but also flexible. The slow first movement introduction was filled with longing but never dragged. As Dvořák’s self-revelation unfolded, giving birth to new musical ideas, the scene was directed with precision by Valčuha. The spark of recognition, as portrayed by the timpani and string tremolos, gave rise to the first theme. The French horn section began the “Hal-le-lu-yah” motif, which is a prominent feature of the movement. Slowing the tempo for the second theme, an inversion of the first, Valčuha gave the principal flute, Aralee Dorough, freedom to play with expressive tone color. The second flute, Judy Dines, equaled that beauty in this theme’s second statement. In the third theme (uncommon in sonata form), the solo flute plays a softly rocking lullaby evocative of Native-American music. Again, Dorough played expressively. The brass-dominant development section was dramatic and powerful. Principal French horn William VerMeulen provided round-toned and secure solos throughout the movement.

The second movement, “Adagio,” features a well-known English horn melody, which has often been misidentified as a Negro spiritual. Dvořák stated more than once that the movement was a study for a larger work based on Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha. Whatever the context, Valčuha allowed the melody to move while also modulating crescendos so as not to cover the English horn, expressively played by Adam Dinitz. Along with many fine examples throughout the movement, it concluded with a perfectly tuned bass quartet.


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The third movement, “Scherzo,” was taken at a brisk tempo, incisively punctuated by timpanist Leonardo Soto. Based on an actual Native-American tribal dance, rhythmic figures were traded off between string sections with precision. The middle section, “Poco sostenuto,” featured winds playing in perfect octaves, then thirds, with a punctuated rhythmic underlayment in the strings. Sounding like music for a Western, it eventually returned to the original dance. The final measures were marred by imprecise spiccato notes in the violins and unclear diminishing rhythms in the violas.

The final fourth movement, “Allegro con fuoco,” was quite fast, even a notch faster than the indicated 152 beats per minute. Even so, the trumpet and horn melody clearly stated the implied “I am A-mer-i-can, this land is my home.” A viola player himself, Dvořák had a natural affinity for string instruments, as evidenced by his string writing. That was taken to full advantage by Valčuha. He encouraged technical brilliance in fast passage work, shaping notes beyond the routine. An extensive clarinet solo was deftly shaped with dynamic precision by Mark Nuccio. Valčuha also managed to integrate the compound motives at the end to avoid having it collapse under its own weight (as often happens).

Apparently, after listening in the hall during rehearsal, Valčuha requested that the brass play a little less. The trombone and tuba section gave adequate support without overpowering the strings. Mark Hughes led the excellent trumpet section but appeared to be using a rotary valve trumpet, perhaps to produce a less brilliant sound. The stellar French horn section sounded perfectly balanced. From my seat in the center of row Q, the orchestra sounded generally well-balanced in the hall, and the ensemble was excellent. The woodwinds projected nicely, with a wide range of dynamics and individual tone colors. The double basses were fuller and clearer than before, with sustained notes and pizzicatos sounding resonant. The violas were heard a bit more than before, as were the second violins. The first violins could have been a bit louder, but two G-string solos were gorgeous. The excellent concertmaster perhaps over-controlled them, which could reduce free tonal production. The cellos continue to sound wonderful but with a bit less volume than before. That appears to be the case across the front edge of the stage.

Valčuha seems very pleased with the “new” hall, as heard from the podium, but there may still be some tweaking of positions and locations to get optimal results. An immediate major factor will be the removal of the choir platform, which will allow a bit deeper placement on the stage, perhaps solving the previous balance concern. A concert hall is like a huge string instrument: both need the right sweet spot for the best sound. After that, ensemble and expression are the primary goals. 

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About the author:
Lawrence Wheeler was a music professor for 44 years. He has served as principal viola with the Pittsburgh Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and Houston Grand Opera Orchestra, and guest principal with the Dallas and Houston symphonies. He has given recitals in London, New York, Reykjavik, Mexico City and Houston, and performed with the Tokyo, Pro Arte and St. Lawrence string quartets and the Mirecourt Trio. His concert reviews have been published online on The Classical Review and Slipped Disc.

Read more by Lawrence Wheeler.
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