Seventy-five years ago the New Mexico Symphony played its first concert, and
Friday night the orchestra celebrated this diamond anniversary. For an American
orchestra, and especially one from the West, 75 years is an impressive figure
indeed and an achievement in which the entire community should take pride. 

Opening the commemorative season was a work commissioned by the NMSO from this
writer, Daniel Steven Crafts. Whimsically entitled Fanfare Overture: Red or
Green?, the piece calls for nearly the entire orchestra including
four percussionists.

Viola soloist Paul Neubauer then took the stage for Bartok's Viola
Concerto. This work is something of a Frankenstein in that it was cobbled
together from sketches. Before his death Bartok claimed the piece was finished,
but when his friend and colleague Tibor Serly attempted to assemble the notes,
the task proved anything but straightforward. Consequently the piece has
sometimes been called into question.

There was nothing to question, however, in Neubauer's rich, bittersweet sound,
making a persuasive case for the work, even in this form--a revision of a
revision. His is a particularly lyrical reading, preferring to spin delicate
and beautiful spider webs of tone before moments of precision attack. In the
Finale-Allegretto the orchestra drove through Bartok's viscerally angular
harmonies and vivid Hungarian themes as Neubauer demonstrated a formidable
technical proficiency, rounded off with expressive nuance.

There could not be a more fitting work to celebrate this important occasion
than Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, crowning the NMSO's run of all that composer's
symphonic offerings. Roger Melone's NMSO Chorus has been garnering
well-deserved accolades from a variety of quarters lately. They recently
returned with enthusiastic acclaim from a performance of this same work with no
less than the Philadelphia Orchestra.

In the opening Allegro ma non troppo Maestro Figueroa wove an opulent tapestry
of sound at once both immensely profound and yet supremely simple. The Scherzo
then thundered forth in a blaze of energy underscored by the timpani's
heartbeat of all humanity. The opening statement of the Ode to Joy theme in the
strings was the most blissfully serene I have ever heard, while moments later
the full chorus burst forth with the theme, shining its brilliant light of
brotherhood and equality upon a contemporary world so badly in need of its
illumination. However the chorus sang with the Philadelphians it could hardly
have been more majestic than what resounded through the confines of Popejoy
Hall this evening. A group of four outstanding vocal soloists added the final
touch to a movement full of heartfelt dramatic reflection.

Beethoven's Ninth Symphony is a moment of epiphany in the development of
humanity. Hearing the work in live performance is an event everyone should
experience at least once, and here is an outstanding opportunity to do so.

WHAT: New Mexico Symphony Orchestra presents Beethoven's Ninth Symphony
WHEN: 2 p.m. today (Sept 16)
WHERE: Albuquerque Journal Theatre at the National Hispanic Cultural Center
HOW MUCH: $18- $57 at the NHCC box office or Ticketmaster outlets

 

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