From John Adams’ “On the Transmigration of Souls” to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, Boettcher Concert Hall reverberated with a full range of human emotion Friday night.
Broadcast live on Colorado Public Radio and introduced by CPR’s own Monika Vischer, the ambitious program featured the Colorado Symphony, Colorado Symphony Chorus, Colorado Children’s Chorale and — as an extra bonus — composer Adams among the packed audience.
On first thought, it’s difficult to conceive that any music or other form of conciliatory effort could begin to adequately memorialize the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But Adams’ 27-minute work offers a persuasive expression of the shock, horror and lingering despondency that gripped our collective psyche that day.
Directing the orchestra’s premiere performance of the large-scale work — complete with an ambient soundtrack of street sounds, ambulances and various voices stating the names of some of the victims and notes from their loved ones — Jeffrey Kahane articulated the composer’s cathartic representation of a shared bond of grief.
In his penultimate performance as music director of the Colorado Symphony, Kahane brought together the polished sound of the combined choruses with jagged flare-ups from the orchestra to deliver through music a visceral memory of that fateful day.
Swinging to the other extreme of the human experience, the second half of the program was a rousing rendition of Beethoven’s Ninth. The life-affirming, four-movement choral symphony, again featuring the fine Colorado Symphony Chorus, bespeaks the composer’s personal triumph over his deafness even as it powerfully portrays the beauty, brotherhood and sanctity of all creation.
Kahane’s easy grasp of the epic, visionary work transcended its technical difficulty, and portrayed a sense of freedom and endless possibility. The various sections of the orchestra — with notably brilliant playing among the horns — took turns punctuating Beethoven’s futurist musical vocabulary that bridges the Classic and Romantic periods.
When soprano Charlotte Dobbs, mezzo-soprano Barbara Rearick, tenor Benjamin Butterfield and baritone Robert Gardner joined in to deliver Beethoven’s familiar “Ode to Joy” — the composer’s exuberant finale set to Friedrich von Schiller’s text — it brought the house down.
While the soloists’ voices blended well for an overall engaging effect, their amplification was uneven. Dobbs’ vocal projection especially would likely have benefited from standing closer to her microphone.
The concert repeats today at 2:30 p.m.
