There was an air of anticipatory excitement in the chilly night even as crowds started gathering in Buckley to collect reserved tickets as early as 7 p.m., a full hour before the concert was scheduled to open. Lines wound out into the cold as patrons looking to purchase tickets at the door were turned away by overwhelming demand and a lengthy waitlist.
Once the lights dimmed, though, the thumping introduction to Arnold Schoenberg's "A Survivor from Warsaw" (1947) captivated the Hall. A post-war piece composed to commemorate the courage of Polish Jews marching into the gas chambers and oblivion, the strident dissonance recreated an atmosphere of brutality and oppression. Dramatic narration was provided by guest bass-baritone Craig Phillips. Suitably jarring and edgy, the collision of parts from the orchestra led perfectly into the sacred Jewish prayer "Shema Yisroel." The stirring voices of the Choral Society resounded with the echo of those who faced death with fear, but also with dignity.
The bleakness progressed into Beethoven with the orchestra's rendition of his "Elegischer Gesang" (1814), an elegy for a beloved friend's wife. However, this brief work, infused with melancholic strains, was merely the prelude to the piece most of the audience had come to hear. "Symphony No. 9" (1824), originally commissioned by the Philharmonic Society of London and premiered in Vienna, has come to represent all that is brilliant about Beethoven. To fully realize the magnitude of the Ninth, the Orchestra and Choral Society brought in soprano Stephanie Dawn Johnson, mezzo-soprano Kimberly Gratland James and tenor Paul Mow in addition to Phillips. Mow's credentials are particularly impressive; he was lead tenor for the Pulitzer-winning opera "Life is a Dream" and is currently in his third consecutive season performing with the New York City Opera.
Impressionist composer Claude Debussy once said of the Ninth, "At each leap forward there is a new delight, without either effort or appearance of repetition; the magical blossoming, so to speak, of a tree whose leaves burst forth simultaneously." The Orchestra and Choral Society certainly took this statement to heart, acquitting themselves with much aplomb despite a rushed practice schedule.
"Because the Orchestra had to perform for La Cage [Aux Folles] before this and Beethoven's Ninth being so massive, we didn't have all that much time to rehearse, so we put in almost three hours every day for a week, " said violinist Andrew Nguyen '08.
For many of us with an unfastidious ear for pitch and technique, there was nevertheless little to fault in the execution. Indeed, the rousing final movement "Ode to Joy" was played and sung with such heart and genuine enjoyment that it was difficult not to participate in the moment. When audience members rose to their feet in spontaneous ovation, they applauded more than the consummate and spirited performance of the Orchestra and Choral Society; they applauded the memory of the man who, forsaken by fate, still had faith enough to write rapture into music.
As attendees streamed out into the night, most had only good things to say. "They did an excellent job with a difficult piece, and I was really impressed with the collaboration between the Orchestra and the Choral Society," David Korngold '06 remarked.
The concert was a great accomplishment on behalf of the performers in both music groups. Thus, we wait, then, with keen expectation, for Mozart's "Requiem" next year.