Richard Strauss demands virtuosic agility, and Mozart requires perfection from orchestras. The Madison Symphony Orchestra’s Friday performance titled “Legacy” brought all this and more from the ensemble.
Maestro John DeMain expertly conducted the cavalier theme of young Strauss’ “Don Juan” (1888) who has been chief conductor of the orchestra for more than 30 years. Strauss' ever-shifting themes, demanding both brevity and precision, captivated concertgoers.
The symphony’s string section played with remarkable reliability under the baton of DeMain.
Strauss was notoriously unforgiving while writing for orchestras, which was shown during the middle of the piece when the principal oboist was required to play a lovely melody in a very high and unstable register.
What was delineated from the performance was nothing short of what Strauss explicitly had planned in the lubricious musical retelling of Don Juan.
Another Strauss piece followed “Don Juan.” “Four Last Songs” (1948), which Strauss composed at the age of 84, showed concertgoers what 60 years of maturity could do to a composer. The concert highlighted the evolution of Strauss from a young composer eager for success to an older, reflective one looking back on a remarkable career.
Strauss’s four songs were performed by soprano Amanda Majeski, whose career has recently taken her to The Royal Opera of London. Majeski sang the demanding pieces with expertise. Her voice echoed throughout the hall with power and control, which left concertgoers entranced by Strauss’s enchanting harmonies.
The orchestra supported Majeski completely. Soloists from the orchestra included the concertmaster, horn, oboe and clarinet.
Dominick Berning, a concert goer and freshman in music composition at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, told The Daily Cardinal "the horn solo in the second song nearly brought a tear to my eye.”
Along with the horn, the concertmaster also supported Majeski with weaving counterpoint between the violin and soprano.
After two Strauss pieces that depicted the sunrise and sunset of a career, the orchestra moved back in time to Mozart.
The stage was then filled to capacity with over 100 singers and instrumentalists, including principal organist Greg Zelek. Four soloists included once again soprano Majeski, mezzo-soprano Kirsten Lippart, tenor Martin Luther Clark and bass Matt Boehler.
Mozart’s “Requiem” Mass started with a sorrowful opening that quickly evolved into a rapid Kyrie with a strong counterpoint between the voices of the choir and orchestra.
Performed with effortless simplicity despite the music’s demands, Mozart’s “Requiem” took the audience on a journey through the traditional mass texts. The four soloists navigated the cathedral-like colors of the choir and orchestra, singing verses echoed by the choir.
The Requiem ended triumphantly with a return to the Kyrie’s original theme, this time set to the text of the “Communio Lux Aeterna.”
The concert was another great success by the orchestra and conductor, and it left concertgoers excited for the 99th season’s close next month.
