Beethoven and Carmina Burana with the Philadelphia Orchestra in Saratoga
As far as I'm concerned, summer's all about seeing music outdoors, whether it's at the beach, in a park, or out of town. Better still if it's in a place that has multiple forms of entertainment, such as Saratoga Springs, NY with its many fine restaurants, shops, gardens and, well, horses. For me, a good day in Saratoga has a formula: go to the farmers market in the morning, fill your water bottle at High Rock Spring, then check out the shops on Broadway before heading to the track. After that, it's a quick dinner at the Hall of Springs, followed by a performance next door at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.
They do all kinds of shows at SPAC: everything from dance, to jazz, to rock and pop. The multi-purpose amphitheater is similar in size to the Koussevitzky Shed at Tanglewood (5100 seats), but in a different configuration, with two levels of highly raked seats down to the stage below. (An additional 20,000 can be accommodated on the even-steeper lawn outside, though the view from there has never been great.) Fringed by tall pines and a running stream, it is an attractive place to spend a warm summer evening, as it was last Saturday when I went to hear the Philadelphia Orchestra, which has been performing at SPAC since it opened its doors in 1966. (The amphitheater was designed with the orchestra in mind, under the guidance of its former music director Eugene Ormandy.)
Attendance has long been problematic for the Philly concerts at SPAC - last Saturday, the amphitheater was less than half-full - but noone seemed to mind, what with New Kids on the Block coming in the following night. For a while now, classical music has been a loss leader at SPAC, with most of the center's income derived from the shows booked by Live Nation, many of which sell out.
Normally, music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin would have been on the podium but not this year: he conducted a total of one SPAC concert this summer - on a Thursday - squeezed in between performances with the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal and preparing the new production of Jeanine Tesori's Grounded for opening night at the Met. Perhaps Yannick should reconsider whether he can really do justice to three music directorships in three different cities, despite his claims of giving "200 percent at all times, everywhere." (His contract in Philadelphia runs through 2030, for those keeping track.)
Fortunately, Philadelphia had an accomplished pinch hitter on hand: Fabio Luisi, the onetime Chief Conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden and Met Opera and current music director of the Danish, Dallas and NHK Symphonies. Luisi led a stellar program, starting with a tightly controlled reading of Beethoven's 8th symphony. Something of a black swan between the Promethean 7th and epic 9th, the lighthearted 8th has its own charms: jokey rhythms, false downbeats, an oddball coda. Luisi led without a baton, coaxing an intense, crisp performance from the Philadelphians.The main course came after intermission: Carl Orff's "profane cantata" Carmina Burana. This was actually the second time I'd heard this massive work at SPAC: the first was way back in 2008, with the pre-cancelled Charles Dutoit conducting. (Opening was a very young Time for Three performing Jennifer Higdon's Concerto 4-3.) Scored for orchestra, SATB chorus, children's chorus and soloists, it's a pageant especially suited for Saratoga, with its tavern songs about drinking, gambling, women and other vices. I can only imagine how the familiar opening chorus "O Fortuna" must sound to someone whose luck deserted them at the Race Course.
"O Fortune! Like the moon/you are everchanging...Fate/you whirling wheel/you are malevolent..."
Filling the stage behind the orchestra was the local Albany Pro Musica chorus, which handled the challenging vocal parts with ease, despite being on book and suffering through a potentially disastrous stage malfunction when the removable stage shell - which is as old as SPAC - partly gave way during the performance. (It was quickly put back in place.) Joining them were the Philadelphia Boys and Girls Choir and a trio of soloists: soprano Audrey Luna, tenor Sunnyboy Dladla and baritone Sean Michael Plumb, all perfectly fine. But, the orchestra was the star of the show here, playing with ferocity and tenderness, tackling all of the quirky, off-kilter tunes with aplomb. For the return of "O Fortuna" at the end, the houselights dramatically turned from purple to orange, offering an unsettling mix of wonder and dread as we ventured out into the Saratoga night. Hopefully not to suffer the same fate as those in Orff's Taberna.
The Philadelphia Orchestra continues at SPAC through Saturday with concerts featuring violinist Gil Shaham, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, and Disney's The Lion King. (Hey, why not?) Tickets available at the box office or online.
More pics on the photo page.