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Festival of Voices
2010-2011
Concert Season
Festival of Voices
September 25, 2010
Haydn's
Creation
October 22 - 24, 2010
with the Florida Orchestra
A Holiday
Pops
December 10 - 12, 2010
with the Florida Orchestra
Beethoven
Symphony No. 9
&
Schoenberg's
Friede auf Erden
(Peace on
Earth)
February 25 - 27, 2011
with the Florida Orchestra
Discover!
April 9 - 10, 2011
Celebrating the opening of the new USF School of Music Concert Hall |
Dr. James Bass
Music and Artistic Director
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Critics Corner
Orchestra Setting A Spirited New
Tradition
By KURT LOFT
© The Tampa Tribune
Published: Dec 18, 2006
ST. PETERSBURG - Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony often finds itself in the
ceremony of great social events, such as the fall of the Berlin Wall or the
signing of peace treaties.
Beethoven, though, would have scowled at excluding his last symphony from the
dialogue where it belongs - as a message of hope and joy for the common man and
woman.
The Florida Orchestra and Master Chorale of Tampa Bay want to bring that
message home by presenting annual performances of the Ninth, a holiday option to
the ubiquitous "Messiah." Judging from the packed house Saturday night at
Mahaffey Theater, the idea just might work.
Under the baton of Stefan Sanderling, about 200 musicians crammed the stage for
the second of three concerts, generating plenty of spirit, eloquence and
thunder. The orchestra seemed to wander in getting this 74-minute masterpiece
airborne, but soon found a center of harmonic tension and ran with it in the
opening movement.
The orchestra grappled with each twisting key change and thematic shift, touched
off an engaging fugue and closed with a series of full-throttled fortissimos.
John Bannon's assertive timpani strokes set the tone for the scherzo, and
woodwinds and strings propelled the music forward in a dance of swirling
rhythms. Concertmaster Jeffrey Multer at times was so animated he nearly flew
off his chair.
The fulcrum of the symphony is the slow movement, one of Beethoven's most
sublime creations, and after the chorus members arrived to take their seats,
Sanderling fashioned the broad main theme into a lyrical river of sound that
made some listeners almost forget where they were.
The Master Chorale, well prepared by its artistic director, Richard
Zielinski, made a statement in the finale with warm, integrated harmonies,
moving with ease through the gigantic variations. A high point of the night was
impressive high register passages by sopranos and altos. Many fine moments
came from the four soloists: soprano Jessica Jones, mezzo Nancy Maultsby, tenor
Garrett Sorenson and bass Robert Pomakov.
The orchestra might want to take a hard look at its box office, which was a
model of inefficiency Saturday. Dozens of patrons had to wait until the end of
the first movement to take their seats. Cell phones also continue to be a
problem: During a quiet passage midway through the symphony, someone actually
answered a call with a loud "hello."
The final performance is tonight at 8 at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen Booth
Road, Clearwater; (727) 791-7400.
Reporter Kurt Loft can be reached at (813) 259-7570 or kloft@tampatrib.com
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