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American Impressions Bogotá
Teatro Mayor Julio Mario Santo Domingo
04/18/2025 -
Samuel Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Opus 24
Aaron Copland: Appalachian Spring
Antonín Dvorák: Symphony No. 9 “New World”, Opus 95
Julieth Lozano (soprano)
Czech National Symphony Orchestra, Steven Mercurio (Conductor)
S. Mercurio
Samuel Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 (1947), commissioned by legendary American soprano Eleanor Steber (1814‑1990), was set to a text by poet James Agee (1909‑1955). The work paints a nostalgic picture of the American poet’s native Knoxville, Tennessee.
Julieth Lozano, heard two days earlier in the Festival’s Gala liríca, possesses a supple lyric soprano not dissimilar to Steber’s. It’s feminine, fruity and richly distinct. The lyrics are a man’s idyllic vision of his childhood, and the music evokes nostalgia. The pitfall in this work is sentimentality, which both soprano and conductor adroitly eschewed. In the aforementioned gala, Lozano did not seem at ease in the excerpts in English. Yet in Barber’s work, she astounded with her excellent diction, managing to convey the languid nostalgia and yearning of the work. Likewise, Mercurio’s obvious control of the orchestra was admirable.
Commissioned as a ballet by dancer-choreographer Martha Graham (1894‑1991), Appalachian Spring (1944) was titled after a poem by Hart Crane (1899‑1932), about an American pioneer and his bride. It thus exudes youth and hope, much needed in a United States that was then emerging from the Great Depression and World War II. The ballet was subsequently arranged as an orchestral suite, the work performed here, composed of eight uninterrupted tableaux. The suite’s climax is a set of variations on the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts”. Mercurio adroitly set the serene rustic mood that opens the work. He smoothly transitioned into the dance rhythms in the middle of the work. Given the descriptive quality of Copland’s score, the level of the orchestra’s detail is impressive. One can actually feel the mood of “Wedding Day”, “Fear of the Night” and “Day of Wrath”. Mercurio and his orchestra’s attention to detail was remarkable.
Needless to say, the pièce de résistance awaited by the audience was Dvorák’s Ninth Symphony. It did not disappoint, as Mercurio’s intensity and the orchestra’s attention to detail made for a riveting performance. The opening Adagio started in somber mode, with the strings sounding almost menacing, making for a somewhat nervous and unsentimental first movement. The Largo was lyrical and almost idyllic. It was beautifully played but perhaps a bit too slow. This made the contrast with the Scherzo that followed more palpable. This movement, associated with the Native American dances described in Longfellow’s poem “Hiawatha,” was played at considerable speed, thus adding to the tension. The timpani were quite effective in this movement. Mercurio’s choice of tempo avoided the sentimentality that sometimes blights this movement. The final Allegro con fuoco movement lived up to its name, with furious energy but well‑paced, thus eschewing bombast and vulgarity.
After an impassioned rendition of Dvorák’s most famous work, the public erupted in intense applause that would not end until after Mercurio returned to salute the audience and to commend those musicians that excelled in the performance. One felt the orchestra may produce an encore. However, it’s good they didn’t. It was better to leave the theatre with euphoria, generated by an elegant and passionate performance of one of the most important symphonies in the repertoire.
Ossama el Naggar
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