Friday’s concert by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and conductor Peter Oundjian got me wondering about the balance between programming and the quality of a performance.
No doubt, conductor and orchestra delivered supreme music-making in a trio of works by Joseph Haydn, Richard Wagner and Sergei Prokofiev. But Boettcher Concert Hall was conspicuously empty for this program of orchestral masterpieces with the common theme of tragic love. Would a more balanced program have made a difference? Or perhaps it was Opera Colorado’s opening of “Don Pasquale” the same night that diverted most CSO regulars?
Even so, the sparse showing at Boettcher was a pointed reminder that — no matter how fabulous are the musicians and their collective artistry — presenters must be ever mindful of the proclivities of their audience.
That said, Oundjian’s inspired direction of selections from Prokofiev’s “Romeo and Juliet” ballet was first-rate. In 21 movements that comprised the entire second half of the program, the CSO delivered a memorable depiction of the composer’s sumptuous and refined orchestration.
So illustrative is Prokofiev’s scoring of Shakespeare’s play that it takes hardly any imagination to feel the energy of a bustling street scene, the youthful beauty of Juliet and the impassioned fervor of her Romeo, the contention between rival families, an ill-fated duel and the heart-rending death of the sweet heroine.
In the warm, visceral musical language of the opening and closing of Wagner’s opera “Tristan und Isolde,” Oundjian further illuminated the compelling effect of protracted dissonances set in the context of lush, dense harmonies and sweeping crescendos.
More, Oundjian’s distinctive vitality and astute sense of timing was evidenced in Haydn’s “La Passione.” The CSO rendered the grand and graceful symphony as a palette of contrasting colors, textures and sensibilities — from nervous syncopations and aggressive modulations to captivatingly serene and tender melodies.
The concert repeats at 2:30 p.m. today.
