Fruhbeck de Burgos Conducts the New York Philharmonic
Avery Fisher Hall Barely Contains Monumental Cantatas
By: Susan Hall - Jun 03, 2012
New York Philharmonic
Orfeon Pamplones directed by Igor Ijurra Fernandez
Brooklyn Youth Chorus directed by Dianne Berkun
Conducted by Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos
Atlantida by Manuel de Falla
Carmina Burana by Carl Orff
Soloists Erin Morley, Emalie Savoy, Nicolas Phan, Jacques Ibrailo
Avery Fisher Hall
June 1, 2012
Photographs courtesy the New York Philharmonic
Clouds of sound dove, bubbled, rang and soared into every corner of Avery Fisher Hall as Rafael Fruhbeck de Burgos conducted monumental works by de Falla and Orff. While the stage was not filled by a cast of thousands, there were well over 300 singers, instrumentalists and pianists. Two Steinway grands faced off to accentuate the percussive. No one does tone and color quite like Fruhbeck de Burgos, who was off book at 85 and dancing like a teen. Teens could learn about precision from him, however. The wonderful Brooklyn Youth Chorus in a repeat performance with the Philharmonic clearly has.
Manuel de Falla was born in Cadiz, where Atlantis sank. The cantata starts with a wonderful passage of sunken music, with debris drifting across the surface. The search, Falla wrote, “..is for the first cause.” The scenic cantata was based on a poem by Catalan poet-monk Jacinto Verdaguer.
Although the Atlantis myth has often been taken up by writers, including Booth Tarkington who blamed the island’s disappearance on virulent feminism, musicians have seldom explored the subject. For Falla, Atlantis is a homegrown story. Wonderfully cobbled together from chants, sixteenth century song and medieval cantiga, sheer size and variety overwhelm with embracing sound.
The music is also a morning prayer, preparation for the ultimate Mass. Trying to finish the work Falla had problems with the next to last piece: “La Salve en el mar, ” but you would not know this listening to its colorful beauty.
Emalie Savoy has performed the title role in Ariadne aux Naxos at Tanglewood. In the Falla, she gave a lush and richly detailed rendition of Queen Isabella’s solo. Jacques Imbrailo, as the leader who weaves together the story of the entire cantata, has an big but clear and dramatically nuanced voice, easily riding over the masses of instruments and voices on the stage. He displayed his virtuoso range from a firm leader in Atlantida to a lusty tavern drinker in Carmina Burana.
The impressive Brooklyn Youth Chorus were the old kids on the block joining debutantes Orfeon Pamplones, a glorious European chorus formed over a century ago. The big musical swells, precise patter and humor in Carmina Burana were perfectly captured. The orchestra flowed with the great blocks of percussive sound from timpani and pianos as the weight of Fortune is pronounced to a Bavarian dance contrasted with flute and timpani on to galloping hinc, hinc, hincs and a distant horn: effects developed to surprise and delight.
Standing out among the excellent soloists was tenor Nicolas Phan, who brought not only an unusual and apt voice to the tavern proceedings, but also hammed it up to give the flavor of grotesque fun. His delivery had great charm and musicality. Phan heads the Collaborative Arts Institute of Chicago among his many accomplishments.
All the participants were led by the Maestro through compelling dynamic ranges. The songs and orchestrations were amazingly fresh and compelling.
In the last moments before he died, Falla was shown pictures of Macchu Picchu mountaintop ruins and cried out, “That is Atlantida!” Atlantida and Carmina Burana were like the marvelous ascent of great mountains in the New York Philharmonic’s performance.
Fruhbeck de Burgos, a favorite also with the Boston Symphony, is at Tanglewood conducting on August 25th and 26th.
This concert repeated at Avery Fisher Hall, June 2, 2012 at 8 pm.