by Melanie Wong
PHILADELPHIA, PA — You’d be hard-pressed to find many American orchestras better than the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Even with an average age of less than 22, the musicians—who are all students at Philadelphia's Curtis Institute of Music—are among some of the
nation's top musicians. This past Sunday, they gave a dynamic performance of works by Richard Strauss, Rachmaninoff, and Stravinsky at Philadelphia's
Kimmel Center.
The concert opened with an entertaining rendering of
Strauss' "Dance of the Seven Veils" from Salome.
With Curtis conducting fellow Kensho Watanabe confidently poised on the podium,
the students captured the work's chilling and ferocious nature. From
the beginning, it was evident that each soloist—especially among the woodwind
section—was not only a beautiful player, but had also attained a prodigious
level of maturity. Unfortunately, weak links plague even the
greatest orchestras, and here it was in the brass: the trombones, though animated and assured, frequently fell too far out of the texture; the wonderful lead trumpeter
lacked much needed support from her section; and the horns were thoroughly
unremarkable.
Rachmaninoff had long favored the "Philadelphia sound," and
composed his Symphonic Dances with
the Philadelphia Orchestra in mind. So, who better to perform the piece than a
group of talented students trained in the Philly tradition? (Kansas City Symphony's Michael Stern took over the podium for the remainder of the program.) Here again, the
woodwinds shone as they danced delicately through their interwoven
solos. By the second movement, the brass finally found the energy and unity for a
powerful delivery. Most noticeably, however, there were some rhythmic and tonal-projection issues within the lengthy saxophone solo, played by a guest artist
who, unfortunately, fell below the Curtis standard.
By the time we reached Stravinsky's Rite of Spring, clarity and technical proficiency among the group was
expected. Auxiliary instrumentalists—namely E-flat clarinet, English horn, and
alto flute—stood out, as did the phenomenally vibrant percussion section. What's more, there's something to be said for string players who've yet
to become jaded with orchestral playing, and the upper strings played with a dramatic intensity that was both exciting and nearly flawless. At the same time, the sound was frequently top-heavy—partly due to an obnoxious
acoustical quirk of the hall—and without any formidable bass, many of the Rite's weightier sections lost their impact. Still,
there were many moments of brilliance, and the "Danse sacrale" at the end radiated with horror and tension.
Overall, it was an outstanding performance according to any criteria. Fortunately, the concert was recorded and can be heard on Instant Encore.