SPRINGFIELD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

Beethoven & Beethoven

SATURDAY, MAY 1, 2010 AT 8:00 PM

 KEVIN RHODES

Music Director and Conductor

Mary Wilson, Soprano

Stacey Rishoi, Mezzo-soprano

Alan Schneider, Tenor

Gustav Andreassen, Bass

Springfield College Singers, Alexandria Ludwig

Springfield Symphony Chorus, Nikki Stoia, Chorus Director 

Reviewed by Donna Bailey-Thompson

Listening to Beethoven’s First and 20 minutes later listening to his Ninth reminded me of having, say, little Ludwig, stand against a doorjamb while a parent laid a ruler across his head, marking the wall with a pencil, and then exclaiming, “Why, just look at how much you’ve grown!”

Symphony No. 1 in C Major, in four movements, strongly influenced by Haydn (which is fine provided Haydn’s busy-ness is your cup of tea) is ideal music for a lovely day in early Spring, in which case, The First was a perfect fit. The thermometer topped out in the low 80s and breezes kept the low humidity circulating.

Thanks to the insight shared by SSO’s Music Director Kevin Rhodes during the pre-concert talk, we learned that the first chords Beethoven dared choose did not divulge the work’s ongoing key. In fact, according to a shared collection of minutia, those chords suggest, “Shave and a hair cut: Two bits!” Had the Viennese known of that common ditty, one shudders to think how much the already negative reaction (“...a caricature of Haydn pushed to absurdity”) of The First’s premiere would have been embroidered upon. Pronouncing The First an “amazing piece,” Rhodes demonstrated at the piano the progression of that first shocking chord – a seven chord – how it meandered seven measures before declaring the key of record was C Major. Rhodes, sensing his wonder and admiration for Beethoven’s in-your-face courage to break with tradition registered a polite ho-hum with non-music history buffs, murmured into the air, “Okay, Kevin, it’s no big deal.” His self-deprecating humor triggered a ripple of empathetic chuckles.

Beethoven’s First doesn’t generate a lot of excitement and that could make it a blah piece. However, with Rhodes at the helm, the orchestra absorbed his direction: my mind’s eye saw delicate wild flowers dancing in meadows as if their stems had been sucking up an adrenalin-charged elixir. When Rhodes arrived nine seasons ago, blah performances became outlawed.

From the podium, his innate musicianship of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor had the orchestra, chorus and soloists out-playing and out-singing themselves. Because The Ninth has genius built in to its score, it is possible for a less-inspired ensemble to awaken an audience’s appreciation of this renowned piece of music. But when, as happened on May Day 2010, the musicians are en concert and inspired to “raise their game,” the result is a burnished sound supported by uncounted hours of personal practice and an outpouring of focused emotion that penetrates the audience. The performance, capped by the bracing Ode to Joy, literally lifted the cheering audience to its feet.