SFS Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt (photograph by Jürgen M. Pietsch, courtesy of SFS)
San Francisco Symphony (SFS) Conductor Laureate Herbert Blomstedt last visited Davies Symphony Hall roughly a month before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. On that occasion he presented a two-symphony program. The first half of his program was devoted entirely to the first symphony in G minor by Swedish composer Franz Berwald. The second half turned to the Opus 90 (third) symphony in F major by Johannes Brahms.
Last night, almost exactly two years later, Blomstedt returned to the SFS podium with another “symphony coupling” following a similar pattern. This time the first half of the program was Danish, Carl Nielsen’s Opus 29 (fourth) symphony, known as “The Inextinguishable.” For the second half Blomstedt shifted from Brahms to Ludwig van Beethoven, presenting the Opus 67 (fifth) symphony in C minor. Blomstedt is now 94 years old, and his steps are visibly more measured than they used to be. However, when he raises his arms to conduct (without a baton), his body language is as expressive as ever.
The Nielsen symphony was somewhat of an unruly beast, beginning with the fact that the four movements unfold without interruption. Nevertheless, the overall structure is relatively easy to grasp, since sharp changes in instrumentation distinguish the second and third movements. (The second is devoted almost entirely to winds, while the third is marked by the return of the string section to take the lead.)
Those familiar with the Nielsen canon probably know that his Opus 50 (fifth) symphony is distinguished for having a cadenza for snare drum (perhaps the only symphony with this feature). Opus 29 is also attentive to composing for percussion, this time distinguishing the final movement with a fierce battle between two sets of timpani (allowing the instruments to be tuned to different sets of pitches). That sense of conflict reflected the fact that Nielsen created this symphony during World War I, which was subsequently viewed retrospectively through the Opus 50 snare drums.
Since the four movements are woven together in a seamless entirety, the listener almost never gets a chance to catch his/her/their breadth as those movements unfold. Blomstedt knows this symphony well, having recorded it with SFS in 1987 during his tenure as Music Director. His sense of overall flow guides the listener through the “inextinguishable intensity” that pervades the entire symphony. Last night that guidance was as sure as it had been in 1987, and the vigorous applause from the audience made it clear that Blomstedt had won over their attention from start to finish.
It would be the height of understatement to assert that Beethoven’s Opus 67 is more familiar to most audiences. One has to wonder how many of the seats in Davies were occupied by collectors of recordings that have played one or more of those albums of Opus 67 to death. As a result, it is likely that no one on audience side was expecting a “journey of discovery.”
Nevertheless, Blomstedt’s meticulous approaches to phrasing and instrumental balance made for a freshness of interpretation that one rarely (if ever) finds on a recording. Yes, it would be fair to say that most, if not all, of the audience “knew all the tunes.” However, every now and then, Blomstedt would tease out a new way of turning a phrase, almost as if he wanted to ask the audience, “Did you remember this one?”
His return to Davies could not have been more memorable.
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