Symphony: Theatrical workouts in "Manfred," Beethoven's Fifth

The current Seattle Symphony program pairs an undisputed masterpiece — Beethoven's Fifth Symphony — with an ardent, committed performance of a flawed masterpiece by Robert Schumann. The latter's "Manfred," a music-theater work based on Byron's 1816 verse drama, is familiar to audiences mainly because of its overture, a sweepingly romantic gem that has become a concert standard.

Unfortunately, the rest of "Manfred" doesn't always live up to that overture. There are portions of lovely music, but the great moments are fragmentary and short-lived, even as we hear the beautiful themes from the overture reappear. The Seattle Symphony Chorale, polished and ready to go, sits idle most of the time, seriously underemployed when you sense that Schumann could be giving them a thundering good workout.

Instead, the one who gets the workout is the narrator, actor John Kuether (who previously narrated Bernstein's "Kaddish" for the Symphony back in 2002, very successfully). Kuether, an excellent actor, has memorized the entire narrative, which Schumann originally set in German; Schwarz created the English version used in these performances.

Kuether is joined by a strong cast of singers, particularly Carolyn Kahl and Richard Zeller, who spend more time speaking than singing (again, you wonder why Schumann didn't give them arias at some crucial junctures in the narrative).

For 21st-century audiences, romantic-era poetry usually works a lot better on the page than declaimed in a concert hall. Byron's defiant, heroic verse sounds a little overwrought in this setting, though Kuether did a tremendous job representing the impassioned and world-weary Manfred. Donna L. Cole and Matthew D. Dubin also were effective in their vocal and spoken roles as the spirits whom Manfred summons. Glen Danielson played some very evocative English horn solos.

The opening Beethoven work really isn't programmed that often, and Thursday's audience sounded deeply grateful to hear the Fifth again — particularly in the speedy, punchy form in which it emerged. Urgent, punctuated by crisp horn attacks and shaped by perfectly modulated wind solos, this performance featured clear, taut string ensemble and some exciting dynamic contrasts.

The Fifth can sound bombastic and heavy-handed in some interpretations, but this reading kept all the excitement with none of the overstatement. The delicacy of the third movement's ending, blossoming into the majestic final Allegro, was an effect that underscored what an innately theatrical piece this is. Schwarz was recalled to the stage several times by a well-deserved round of ovations.

Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com