Symphonicity Offers an Afternoon of French Music
March 24, 2024. Sandler Center, Virginia Beach
Review by John Campbell

Music Director Daniel W. Boothe led The Star-Spangled Banner and then opened Printemps, the last classical concert of the "Pianorama" season. We were surprised and delighted to hear the brass players from the top balcony play a short fanfare from La Péri (Fanfare for the Fairy) by Paul Dukas (1865-1936). The ballet La Péri is drawn from Persian folklore and is about a prince traveling in Iran seeking a special flower of immortality and his interactions with the peri (fairy). He finds the peri holding the flower.

The second selection, played by the orchestra on stage was Overture to Zais, an opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683-1764). It premiered in 1748 and Rameau called it a Pastoral Humoresque offering gods and supernatural effects in rustic outdoor settings in keeping with Rococo tastes of the court of his day. It was written while Rameau was master of music for La Poupliniere, a financier with rich resources at his various residences with singers, players and dancers. Drums, placed in the right and left aisle on either side of the stage, opened the piece and once again startled the audience. Soon the strings and woodwinds joined the drums. The opera embodied the theme of order out of chaos.

The third piece, by Camille Saint-Saens (1835-1921), La Carnival des Animaux (Carnival of the Animals), featured two of our favorite musicians from the faculty of the Governor's School for the Arts on two facing grand pianos. Stage left was Rebecca Willett and right was Dr. Stephen Coxe in front of the seventy-five member orchestra with Conductor Boothe center-stage. The projected image of "AI Joe," an abrasive artificial intelligence creation, introduced each section with an AI poem. The music began with a rumble and roar from the two pianos in the opening "Introduction and Royal March of the Lions" and we were off to a great start. Next came the crowing and pecking by the strings evoking the clamor of "Hens and Roosters." The score for "Tortoises" is a musical joke: a drastically slowed down version of the famous can-can from Offenbach's The Tales of Hoffmann. The joke continues with "The Elephants" in a cumbersome waltz from Berlioz' The Damnation of Faust and rapid leaps on the keyboard described "Kangaroos."

Liquid, rippling pianos, harp and bells created magical serenity of "Aquarium," the loveliest section of the work. Then sliding strings offered the braying in a section titled "Persons with Long Ears." The call of "The Cuckoo in the Depths of the Woods" had the clarinetist walking through the aisles and stopping to give the bird's call and was soon joined by the pianists and full orchestra. The "Aviary" that followed was aflutter with airy flute solos and rapid keyboard passages. Then "Pianists" themselves are admitted into the menagerie, mocking their hours of practice that unfolded as ponderous keyboard exercises (scales). The xylophone suggests the clattering of old bones in "Fossils."

In the lush and deeply romantic "The Swan" the pianos and strings surrounded us, making me aware of just how great the acoustics are in the Sandler. This was the only movement that Saint-Saëns allowed to be published during his lifetime, and has become a very popular cello solo and accompaniment for dance works. "Finale" let all of the animal themes return in a spirited reprise with great exuberance. AI Joe was just annoying enough to keep even the youngest children engaged. Many families with children helped fill the hall.

Following intermission the orchestra was in place and so were the 140 member chorus, including the Symphonicity Chorus, the Old Dominion University Concert Chorus and the Regent University Choir. Dr. Nancy Kirkland Klein, listed as Guest Conductor and Chorus Master had rehearsed the chorus the day before. That evening a medical emergency had her hospitalized and live streaming the performance on Sunday led by Maestro Boothe.

The Pavane by Gabriel Fauré (1845-1924), a six minute piece originally for piano, was expanded for orchestra and optional chorus. We had the full experience, including the text projected on the screen where AI Joe had appeared earlier. The year 1887 was big for Fauré since he followed the Pavane with his well-known Requiem. The text evokes the silliness of 18th-century courtship rituals but in the style of Verlaine, all delivered with panache. The pavane originated as a stately Renaissance dance. The steady pizzicato undercurrent provides a grounding for the swaying, languid rhythm of the melody with seductive harmonies. The musical discourse is a dialogue between male and female voices and only united in passages about the power of love. Maestro Boothe led a clear and precise reading and it all sounded great.

Gloria by Francis Poulenc (1899-1963) premiered in 1961. On Sunday, March 17, 2024, the ODU Concert Choir Sang the work at Carnegie Hall. The 66 member ensemble was joined by the Regent University Concert Choir and the University of Texas El Paso Choral Union, all led by Nancy Klein. The full title is "Gloria for Soprano Solo, Chorus and Orchestra." Our local soprano was Olivia Rominiyi, a Nigerian-American singer celebrated for her "resplendent commanding voice" and "regal stage presence." Her voice had the beauty and power to be an equal partner with both orchestra and chorus. Amazing!

Again with projected text, the contrast of mood among the six sections was important from the triumphant opening to the incandescence of his setting Laudamus Te (We praise you) and the profound sense of awe in Domine Deus (Lord God) and especially to the last section addressed to the Messiah. Maestro Boothe brought the music to its dramatic, emotional peak. Though the program booklet spoke of the whimsical episodes in the Gloria, and Alex Ross has said "the Gloria exudes an almost scandalous joy, as if a crowd of drunken angels were dancing down the boulevard," we found it profound and seriously presented.