An evening in Lucerne: The Boston Symphony at KKL

Hiya again

Just a quick note on a fantastic evening in Lucerne, at one of Switzerland's greatest concert halls (more details via http://e.lucernefestival.ch ):

A friend's 55th birthday present to me was a trip to KKL to hear The Boston Symphony Orchestra (James Levine, conductor) and The Tanglewood Festival Chorus (John Oliver, director) perform La Damnation de Faust by Hector Berlioz (Symphony Concert no. 13).

For some notes about the contents, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_damnation_de_Faust --

Here are my notes about a glorious evening -- no photos this time but I hope my words will evoke some images in your minds:

What a fantastic night I had at the great concert hall in Lucerne yesterday. Absolutely mind-blowingly beautiful.

The acoustics at the great KKL hall are superb. Everyone says that. But it's one thing to be told, quite another to hear for oneself. The things one hears -- and doesn't hear! For example, three piccolo flutes with a sound so velvety I almost melted. None of the stridency one sometimes catches in poorer surroundings (or because the players are less able). A delight.

The whole performance was magnificent.

James Levine magisterial, gentle, delicate, suave, coaxing, tender -- his arms and back speaking volumes!

His orchestra, the Boston Symphony -- almost a hundred musicians, six double bass violins, ten celli, twenty violas, forty violins, two harps, three flutes/piccolo flutes, four oboes, a clarinet, four bassoons, four or five or six trombones, a tuba, six big brass kettle drums of various sizes, one huge bass drum, cymbals, a massive gong, a "bell" tube -- and I'm sure I've forgotten a few! They all fitted comfortably onto a huge stage in front of
the Tanglewood Festival Chorus (lead: John Oliver): 71 men, 47 women (don't call me on these numbers, please, I was focusing on the music) producing a fantastic sound with a huge range.
In the last part, they were complemented by about forty children from the Lucerne Knabenkantorei (lots of boys, and a few girls) with angelic voices.

The Soloists:
Yvonne Naef, the Swiss mezzo soprano (Marguerite) -- a great voice, warm, big, tender, tiny, moving -- I was in tears a few times just listening to that voice, not understanding – but of course remembering from when I read Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and Goethe's Urfaust – the words and feeling/remembering the pain ...
(see also http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Naef-Yvonne.htm -- where she is said to have a contralto voice)

Marcello Giordani, tenor (Faust) -- a warm, flexible voice, but ran into trouble the first and second time he tried to hit that impossibly high note (a C sharp'') in the third and fourth parts. Acquitted himself well third time round, though. A bit stiff, always holding on to his massive score book, which I thought was a shame, especially as he only consulted it once or twice.

Patrick Cerfizzi, bass baritone (Brander) -- a voice that was warm and enticing, if a bit on the 'woolly' side. Huge, magisterial part, often almost drowned out by the massive orchestra. Rather stiffly holding on to his score book for dear life much of the time.

Jose van Dam, baritone (Mephisto) -- superb performance, flawless. Great voice used expertly. I'd have loved to hear more of him but his part didn't allow for that. Beautiful, expressive hands which he used to underscore his words, which reminded me of Italian/Mediterranean gestures.

The music:
I was deeply impressed and moved and elated, hugely entertained by the variety of it all. Never, but really never in the 2 1/2 hours that the concert lasted did I feel like drifting off or taking my eyes off the stage. Some passages sounded amazingly modern, even jazzy; all of it was youthful and energetic, except the very, very lyrical passages. There was a moment when Marguerite was accompanied just by a cello and it sounded like two human voices singing in unison. Elsewhere, she was complemented by the three flutes/piccoli, and the sound was heavenly, just magical.

I was in raptures. It is not often that I feel like this about music, although I couldn't -- literally could not -- live without it.

Really glad I heard this. Thank you, M!