Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz is the most outlandish classical masterwork ever written. Familiar as it is, its oddities never cease to astound, especially when played as well as the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra performance of Sunday afternoon.
To say that Berlioz was unconventional is an understatement. The five-movement symphony was inspired by Ludwig van Beethoven symphonies, and by Berlioz’s obsessive love for an Irish Shakespearean actress—a woman he had never actually met—even though he understood no English. (They would soon meet, marry and separate.) The wild story of the symphony has the composer imagining he poisons the beloved woman in a nightmare and is marched to the scaffold to meet his death. A bizarre, surrealistic “witches sabbath” scene ends the piece.
Guest conductor Joshua Weilerstein returned to MSO and led a good, credible account. Honestly, any conductor is lucky to lead this very capable current edition of the orchestra, which plays so thoroughly well for anyone. I’ve heard more heated, dramatic renditions of the symphony, but all the contrasts and unique orchestral colors came through, punctuated by crisp, brilliant brass outbursts in the final movements.
Margaret Butler was a poignant heroine in the long English horn solo. Todd Levy worked his magic in breathtakingly soft playing in the third movement solo. In the first two movements I was struck by the lovely sound of the first violins, playing with finely spun ensemble sound.
Canadian violinist Karen Gomyo is the kind of classy artist that conquers immensely challenging music without showing the effort of it. She played with beguiling, silvery tone in the Concerto No. 1 by Sergei Prokofiev. This music is both angular and ethereal, and Gomyo captured both qualities elegantly, blazing through the brief, demanding second movement. She was impressive in fast scale work, and expertly tuned high trills that dominate the final section.
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The concert began with the blessedly brief Bump by American composer Christopher Rouse (b. 1949). This is a rowdy concert conga, often so loud and thickly scored that it just seemed overly noisy and busy. It was the opposite of the transparent sound so evident in the Prokofiev concerto.
