Diemecke con la Long Beach Symphony

Magical, Dynamic Performance By LBSO

By Jim Ruggerillo

Published: Wednesday, November 19, 2008 9:52 AM PST
I’m not voting for change.

It was business as usual at the Long Beach Symphony Classics concert the other night at the Terrace Theater. Just another terrific, stellar evening.

Music director Enrique Arturo Diemecke was at the top of his game, and his performance in the second half, Ravel’s complete “Daphnis and Chloé,” was nothing short of brilliant. He had lots of help from his orchestra, which continues to push the envelope in terms of orchestral color and dynamic range, and from a splendid soloist.

That soloist was our own Cécilia Tsan, who has led the LBSO cello section with distinction for some years now. She gave a masterful performance of the Lalo concerto, which nobody will ever mistake for a masterpiece. But Lalo does offer the soloist numerous opportunities to display sensitive musicality and technical finesse, which Tsan did in spades.
She possesses a remarkably beautiful tone, which had no trouble filling the cavernous auditorium, and gave a totally committed, passionate performance. Diemecke and the orchestra responded with exemplary, equally committed, support.

It was here that the audience witnessed what is perhaps Diemecke’s greatest accomplishment as music director: getting this orchestra to play ever so softly but with no loss of beauty or color. At several places in the concerto and elsewhere, there were magical, breathtaking moments.

First things first. The opener was “Canticum Sacrum” by Ana Lara, and it didn’t amount to much. A dense, contrapuntal work based on plainchant, it meanders aimlessly for about 8 minutes and then expires. The LBSO string section sounded glorious as usual, but that was about it.

We used to say in college that if you couldn’t fall asleep during “Daphnis and Chloé,” you weren’t paying attention. And the complete work (as opposed to the more often performed suites) does tax an audience, going on for close to an hour without any big tunes to hang your hat on. The familiar parts (Sunrise, the famous flute solo, the closing Bacchanale) come at the end, so patience is required.

That patience was rewarded Saturday night. Diemecke, conducting without score or baton, created some incredible sound pictures with his orchestra (and choruses from the Bob Cole Conservatory). He danced, he wiggled, he crouched down, he leapt up. The result was a kaleidoscope of rhythm and melody, with constantly shifting timbres and colors. The winds, as mentioned, were phenomenal, and Heather Clark’s flute solo was lovely. The large battery of percussion, complete with wind machine, added a great deal to the magnificence of this performance.

And the chorus.

I have been less than enthusiastic about these choirs, under Jonathan Talberg’s direction, when they have appeared with the LBSO in the past in such works as Beethoven 9 and “Carmina Burana.” But for this “Daphnis” they were perfect, singing with impeccable intonation and beautiful tone and contributing just the right touch of vocal color.

I wouldn’t change a thing.