University of Virginia Library

Performance Proves Mediocre

By Keith Kearney

A rather small audience tonight
demonstrated University Hall's propensity
for standing ovations by
thus rewarding a mediocre performance
by the Richmond Symphony
under the direction of Edgar
Schenkman.

A performance of Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony is enough to stir
the blood of the most lethargic
music fan, and our thanks to John
Herring for providing this concert
are tempered only by Richmond
Symphony's less than inspiring
performance. Mr. Schenkman made
use of his chorus by filling out the
program with Alberto Ginastera's
Psalm 150, thus providing a rather
unusual concert of two choral
orchestral works.

The Ginastera piece, performed
first, is to this writer an ugly piece
of music that the finest orchestra
under the finest conditions would
have trouble transforming into
palatable listening material. The
Richmond Symphony, however,
had even more difficulty.

In a work that demands precise
entrances and great choral self-assurance
Mr. Schenkman's cryptic
conducting led the orchestra to
instability and the chorus to an
insecurity that resulted in an
anemic and amorphous sound.
Indeed, the chorus showed little
aptitude at all until the glorious
passages in the last movement of
the Beethoven.

The attempted pattern of
"storm followed by calm" was very
ineffective, although the woodwinds
played very nicely in the
quiet lyric portions. The drive
toward the ending lacked the
desired pathos and was characterized
by inexcusably brutal brass
playing.

Mr. Schenkman's oppressively
heavy conducting was unfortunately
present in the Beethoven as
well as in the Ginastera. Beethoven's
Ninth Symphony is a
fragile work that must be treated
with great care. Admittedly, there
are very powerful moments, but
these must be balanced by a superb
handling of the delicate passages.

Mr. Schenkman's conducting
lacked this balance, but there is
question whether the orchestra
would have responded had Mr.
Schenkman tried. With the exception
of some tasteful playing in the
fourth movement, the trumpets
were much too heavy and noticeable
throughout, especially on the
punctuating chords. The trombone
playing also was rather weak and
ugly, and the tympanist played very
poorly.

Perhaps the most impressive
performance was given by the
French horn soloist, with his superb
handling of both his solo and
ensemble passages.

The performance generally
lacked the cohesiveness and direction
one might have desired. The
tempo of the second movement did
not have the necessary consistency,
and there was even a very noticeable
struggle between an orchestra
trying to play a solid tempo and a
conductor determined to improvise.
As a result, the second movement's
brittleness and hypnotic quality
were lamentably absent.

Again in the third movement,
the orchestra treated the fragile
melodies very badly. The typically
Beethoven dynamics throughout
were not played well, especially the
false climaxes with their quiet
continuations.

The final movement, however,
was done very nicely, and was far
and away the high point of the
evening. Inspired by the excellent
statement of the theme by the
cellos and the bases, and a
beautiful bassoon, obligato, the
orchestra showed the warmth and
grace that had been needed
throughout.

The strings began to overcome
Mr. Schenkman's stifling conducting
to treat the audience to a
warm rich sound, leading up to the
well-done baritone recitative by
Peter Harrower.

Apparently still shaken by the
Ginastera performance, the chorus
did not respond quite as one would
have wished, but they were obviously
warming up, and they
handled the high vocal parts in the
middle of the movement fairly well.

In the nerve-wracking march,
the orchestra played nicely, and
Seth McKay sang the treacherous
tenor solo superbly. The orchestra
and chorus together continued to
the thrilling climax, overcoming
some shaky moments

Perhaps the performance lacked
the meanings of a truly memorable
evening, but the concert was
certainly worth viewing, and it is a
shame that more members of the
community were not present.