Weather no match for symphony’s ‘Spring’

The Spokane Symphony showed off its new home to subscribers Saturday in the orchestra’s first Classics concert in the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox. As he had in the gala concert that opened the refurbished hall, symphony music director Eckart Preu chose a program that would give the audience a many-sided experience in the hall with a concert that ranged from the elegance of Mozart and Chopin to the raw power of Stravinsky.

How did it work? Wow! What a place to hear music. And judging from the musicians’ response, it’s quite a place to play music, too.

The noble grandeur of the three opening chords of Mozart’s Overture to “The Magic Flute” seemed to give a blessing to the house. And the scampering chase led by the wind instruments that came afterward showed how transparent fast-moving music sounds in The Fox. Preu’s elegant way with Mozart left me wanting to hear a complete staged performance of “The Magic Flute” in The Fox under his baton.

Philippine-born pianist Cecile Licad made her reputation with big, two-fisted virtuoso concertos. Chopin’s Concerto No. 2 is another matter entirely, calling more for finesse and delicacy than a power punch. The reserves Licad has built up over her years with Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff made it seem almost too easy to deal with Chopin’s bursts of fireworks. The first movement seemed almost matter-of-fact. “See how easy all the scales and double notes are?” she seemed to be asking.

But with the Larghetto, Licad entered another, more beautiful world. She revealed this slow movement as a nocturne filled with quiet, lacy figuration interrupted briefly by a passage of operatic storminess. Licad often played Chopin’s melodic figurations just above the level of audibility but with such clarity and such shapely phrasing, the music sang out to the audience all the way to the back of the hall. For the concerto’s finale, everyone on stage seemed to be having a great time with Chopin’s mazurka-like accent shifts, bow-tapping castanet imitations, horn calls and such, to say nothing of Licad’s showers of piano figuration.

Licad rewarded the audience’s ovation with a delightfully light and very speedy performance of Chopin’s Waltz in D-flat major, Op. 64, No. 1 (the so-called “Minute” Waltz). Preu had, in his pre-concert talk, played an amazing artifact, Chopin’s own performance of that piece. Regrettably, I missed it.

After intermission, Preu led the orchestra in a potent realization of the work he described from the podium as “the masterpiece of the 20th century.” Igor Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring” seemed wholly appropriate despite the snow and cold outside. The composer himself liked to refer to it as “The Consecration of Spring” and spoke of “the awakening of the earth,” so this weekend’s performances might be considered heralding a new era for the orchestra.

“Rite” is a mightily difficult score even in a concert version without dancing – “extreme music” for an enormous orchestra playing at the extremes of the instruments’ ranges, and it is filled with hard-to-manage rhythmic shifts that can be ruined by even a split second’s inattention.

Preu and the orchestra rose powerfully to Stravinsky’s challenges in a way that showed the music’s beauty as well as its raw impact. From the beginning cries of Lynne Feller-Marshall’s high bassoon solo to Gale Coffee and Alaina Bercilla’s piccolo shriek that accompanies the uplifted body of “Rite’s” sacrificed virgin at the ballet’s end, the performance kept its audience glued to Stravinsky’s music.

The performance brought home two points about “The Rite of Spring,” well, maybe three. First: No matter how many times you have heard this music, it is nearly impossible to imagine what will happen next. Second: No matter how good your home music system is, the music just does not have the same impact there as hearing it well-played in a fine hall.

Third (if there is a third): The performance raised the question, for me at least, is this music of the theater requiring the listener to visualize some danced narrative movement? Or is it purely abstract music, sufficient unto itself as Stravinsky came more and more to insist?

Whatever the answer, the Saturday performance I heard provided the basic, raw satisfaction that primitive ritual is supposed to provide and the beauty of Stravinsky’s sophisticated orchestral imagination, as well.

Preu is to be congratulated, not only for a great introductory concert but also for helping the orchestra adjust to its new home. Anyone who has ever moved knows that is not easy. And with a new space into which players have to place their sounds rather than furniture and curtains, the difficulties are much greater. The result was a splendid accomplishment for everybody.