Tribal Dancing, Weird Puppets, and One Hell of a Wedding.

Anytime you listen to anything Stravinsky, it's safe to bet you are at least slightly overwhelmed.  I mean, c’mon, Stravinsky is not exactly easy listening.  But we can all agree that Stravinsky is absolutely exciting.  So imagine an evening of Stravinsky's Petrushka, Les Noces, and of course, Rite of Spring.  Yeah, overwhelming and exciting can describe that evening perfectly!

The Saint Louis Symphony and Chorus are currently in performance for their season opener: Rite of Spring.  In addition to Rite of Spring, the Symphony is also performing the ballets Petrushka and Les Noces.  At the top of the evening, Maestro David Robertson began with Stravinsky's arrangement of The Star Spangled Banner, educating the audience of the pride Stravinsky had in his American citizenship.  The Symphony Chorus members lined the stage adding their voices to the event. 

The concert began with the ballet Petrushka.  Throughout the evening, they projected images depicting the scenes and vignettes of the music on a screen above the orchestra.  As entertaining as they were, I have to say they weren’t necessary at all as the STL Symphony so masterfully portrayed the events of the ballet.  I could easily hear whenever the people at the “Strove-Tide Fair” were running around or watching a puppet show, a man  playing his organ grinder, or the ballerina dancing.  I sat there and I felt the pain of Petrushka as he longed for the Ballerina and was taunted by the Moor.  The music making of the STL Symphony was truly theatric and magical. 

The concert goers were granted an intermission between each piece.  One might think the intermissions were for the audience's benefit to regroup from the previous piece, but in all actuality it was for the Symphony's crew to strike the whole stage and set up for Les Noces.  Petrushka is a full orchestra suite; where as Les Noces is for chorus, percussion, 4 grand pianos, and 4 vocal soloists.  The piece itself was a major contrast to Petrushka, musically and dramatically.  Les Noces, meaning “The Wedding” is a dance-cantata describing a wedding day.  It is a very percussive and rather bombastic work describing the chaos of a wedding day.  The percussionists and pianists of the ensemble properly executed the music and portrayed the insanity that can be a wedding day. 

,STL Symphony brought in soprano Dominique Labelle, mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor, tenor Thomas Cooley, and baritone Richard Paul Fink.  Les Noces, which begins without an overture or prelude, is lead by the soprano - the bride - lamenting the end of her childhood.  Ms. Labelle has a lovely voice that had the subtlety of a young bride but the power to carry over the ensemble.  The solo music for the mezzo was rather minimal but Ms. O’Connor commanded the stage whenever her voice was presented.  Her stage presence captivated you and made you pay attention to her rich voice.  Mr. Cooleys voice is not a tenor sound I necessarily prefer so at first I wasn’t sure what I thought.  As his music became more extreme and full of angst, I could hear what Mr. Cooley was having to produce vocally and he sang with such energy, power, and character that made him a powerful presence on stage.  I was very much looking forward to hearing Mr. Fink as I had heard him at the Met.  So I was slightly confused as to how I wasn’t able to hear him over the ensemble.  He brought a lot to his character and was enjoyable to watch.  This was my first time getting to watch the STL Symphony Chorus, which I had been told was a spectacular ensemble.  Well I am happy to say the buzz was correct.  I was thoroughly impressed with the STLS Chorus.  They had such a great musical range and command on dynamics.  As large of a chorus as this one is, there were times of pianissimo and softer when I could still hear them so clearly.  The Chorus really added to the drama of the piece.  This was my first exposure to Les Noces and all in all, it was a pretty great introduction.  I loved the pairing of Petrushka with Les Noces.  Two very different pieces by the same composer.  Both very energetic pieces and very well performed by the entire STL Symphony.

After another intermission to reset the stage for the orchestra, the audience was ready for Rite of Spring.  Now, I’ve seen Fantasia, I was in orchestra in high school, I know Rite of Spring.  I know it in and out.  BUT, I have never seen it live.  So needless to say, I was excited!  The lights go down, Maestro David  Robertson steps out onto the podium.  He does absolutely nothing and out of nowhere, the principle bassoonist Andrew Cuneo plays the “Kiss of the Earth” motive.  Mystical, subtle, and strange, the audience is immediately captivated.  Anyone who knows music knows how complicated and difficult Rite of Spring is, even for professionals like STL Symphony.  The Symphony handled all the polytonalities and polyrhythms beautifully, bringing out every little musical moment.  As they began to play the “Dance of the Young Girls”, the audience was shocked by the powerful sound the Symphony was able to produce.  I heard moments and sections I didn’t know were there as each section of the orchestra brought out everything they had to offer.  The music was enthralling, terrifying, and exciting all at once.  Watching Maestro Robertson all night, he came alive conducting Rite of Spring so much more than he already had throughout the night.  He was practically dancing on the podium.  He gave all his energy to the Symphony and they gave it all to the music.  It was truly a spectacular performance!

There is one more performance of Saint Louis Symphony's performance of Stravinsky's Rite of Spring tonight, September 17^th 8pm at Powell Hall.  Tickets available at http://www.stlsymphony.org/sales/calendar/view.aspx?id=2962