Fresno Philharmonic offers energetic, stylish finale to its season.
Theodore Kuchar's season-ending choral extravaganzas have been consistently filled with energy and inspiration. What's better than hundreds of good singers belting out "Carmina Burana" or Verdi's "Requiem"?
This season, Kuchar and the Fresno Philharmonic presented Leonard Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" at Saroyan Theatre with combined choirs including the California State University, Fresno, Chamber Singers; the Fresno Community Choir; and Fresno City College Chamber Singers.
Bernstein's small-scale masterpiece is irresistible with its jaunty rhythms and jazzy orchestration. From the outset, the warm tone of the large choir prevailed. In the dense and dissonant chords, each part held fast to the notes, and the perilous balance of harmony never collapsed.
Even better, in the asymmetrically rhythmic part, choir and orchestra effortlessly laid in the groove. This is not always the case in live performance of this work. Finally, in the slower parts, the voices soared and remained energized. The a capella portion at the end showed these choirs in top form.
In the second movement, countertenor Rodney Glassman sang the boy soprano part. This was a rare experience in Fresno. While Glassman often sounded out of breath during the longer phrases, the sound of his voice remained pleasant and fascinating. He delivered well, if not completely accurately. One admires the effort.
The concert began with a terrific performance of Morton Gould's "American Salute, Variations on When Johnny Comes Marching Home." While the material of this composition might not be terribly compelling, the orchestration is stunning. Kuchar and the crew created unusually clear and rich tone.
Copland's music often sounds a lot easier than it is, given his instant appeal and cheerful style. The orchestra tackled his Third Symphony with its best effort, and in the end, delivered.
In the first movement, the textures are direct enough, unique to Copland, but not excessively demanding. Why then, the trouble with the notes? One had a sense that if each member of the orchestra would simply play the notes on the page, everything would fall together. Rhythmically, this all worked out. In this movement, however, playing in tune proved the challenge.
In the second movement, the rhythm collapsed at one point between percussion and strings. The interesting part of this is that a group like the Fresno Philharmonic can recover, and many people will not notice. When the dangerous section returned toward the end of the movement, everyone was right on time.
Despite the challenges Copland presents his musicians, the overall atmosphere of the music prevailed.
The fourth movement, from the great fanfare through the dancing middle section to the crashing and triumphant end, held together without trouble. In the middle, against all the syncopated rhythms, Kuchar let go of the intensity in favor of the pure joy of the music. His easy gait led to a wonderful freedom across the orchestra.
The Fresno Philharmonic closed a very compelling season with fantastic energy and style.
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