Concert Review
Seattle Symphony returns with solemn, timely concert

By Melinda Bargreen
Seattle Times music critic

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

This is a week of reflection and contemplation, with not only Passover and Easter, but also the hearings of the Sept. 11 commission keeping those somber events in the forefront of national attention. The current program at the Seattle Symphony is certainly a timely one, full of spiritually heavyweight music that mourns and consoles — all led by the excellent guest conductor Andreas Delfs.

Just back from a successful tour with stops in three Eastern states (Worcester, Mass.; New Brunswick, N.J.; Carnegie Hall in New York City; and the Tilles Center on Long Island), the orchestra must have still been fatigued from the rigors of travel and stressful performance. None of that showed in the high-energy program.

Delfs opened with Arnold Schönberg's 1948 "A Survivor from Warsaw," a searing work based on reports of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto singing a prayer as the Nazis led them to their deaths. Composed for men's chorus, narrator and orchestra, it's a short but stunning work — especially with the burning intensity of Monte Jaffe's narration.

A brilliant, extended klezmer clarinet solo by Laura DeLuca slid directly from the "Survivor from Warsaw" into the first note of Barber's lovely, arching "Adagio for Strings," making this work sound like an extended meditation by the character of the narrator/witness. Then, surprisingly, the "Survivor" was performed again — a retelling of a nightmare that won't go away. The revisiting of "Survivor from Warsaw" was daring, but effective.

Concert review The Seattle Symphony Orchestra and Chorale, with guest conductor Andreas Delfs, narrator Monte Jaffe, vocal soloists Laura Aikin (soprano) and Eric Owens (bass); Benaroya Hall, Thursday night (repeats at 8 tonight; 206-215-4747).

After intermission came the Brahms Requiem, one of the great choral masterpieces in its rich melodies and sumptuous scoring. Conducting without a score, Delfs led a performance that was long on drama and power. Climactic sections rattled the Benaroya rafters with the full orchestra, chorale and Watjen Concert Organ providing plenty of majesty and grandeur.

George Fiore deserves a tip of the hat for the Chorale's performance, rock-solid except for a few weak tenor passages. Diction was especially good in strongly characterized passages that underlined the meaning of the words.

Laura Aikin and Eric Owens were first-rate soloists, with Owens' resonant bass delivering the maximum dramatic impact. In his solos, Brahms' message came forth strongly: Consolation for our losses, and hope for our future.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company