This past Monday at Edmonds Center or the Arts, a drum roll followed by “The Star Spangled Banner” launched Cascade Symphony. Some sang along. Some saluted. Some pressed their hand to their heart. For moments afterward, all stood silent.
Pride in country that is what this concert’s intro was about. That is what we were readied for. That is what we got, the countries involved being Austria, Russia and France; Strauss, Borodin and Berlioz; the “Overture to Die Fledermaus,” Symphony No.2 and “Harold in Italy.”
Those composers contributed those masterpieces in the 19th century, each in his own heartfelt way.
Strauss’s dad, himself a well-known composer, pegged Strauss for a banker. No son of his should have to put up with the “rigors of a musician’s life.” Strauss studied in secret, made a highly successful debut as a composer at age 19 and triggered a bitter father-son rivalry till pop died.
Think you got problems? “The Waltz King’s” “Fledermaus” fully minds the points and counterpoints of a complicated love affair but winds up resolving them. The result is a light, bright array of robust, life-loving polkas.
Did you know Borodin was a bio chemist? The man was 30 years old when he started composing, and then only on Sundays.
Imagine the festive Slavic dances and colorful percussion vigorously summing up the brisk tempos and unconventional phrases of the “Sunday Composer’s” “Symphony No. 2.” The deep feeling for Mother Russia, her history, his heritage, all structured, all written on his off time; how is that for going some?
The Berlioz corrected me. The viola is a marvel. Guest violist Mara Gearman convinced me.
This lovely lady took her companion for life in hand, applied it to the “Harold in Italy” and made of it exactly what Berlioz had in mind, “a melancholy dreamer.”
Mind you, Paganini persuaded Berlioz to compose a piece for his new Stradivarius viola. The “Harold” was the result. Paganini was disappointed. The viola didn’t appear often enough.
True, the viola doesn’t dominate. It insinuates, narrates, leads and allows the rest of the orchestra to react and assert. Gearman manages a wonderfully exquisite, finely attuned commentary on empathy. The object of her commentary: a basically melancholy temperament struggling to adapt to a boisterous, furious, riotous identity and be happy about it. Berlioz composed it. Gearman with CSO performed it.
This was a spirited concert coming from high-minded ideals. It augurs well for CSO’s upcoming season.
Reactions? Comments? E-mail Dale Burrows at entopinion@heraldnet.com or grayghost7@comcast.net
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