Olivier Latry Returns to Davies Ruffatti Organ

Conductor Stéphane Denève (courtesy of SFS)

The Ruffatti organ in Davies Symphony Hall is having a workout this week with the return to the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) of organist Olivier Latry performing under the baton of Stéphane Denève, who made his SFS debut in 2009. The first half of the program concluded with Francis Poulenc’s organ concerto, whose full title is “Concerto pour orgue, cordes et timbales” (concerto for organ, timpani and strings), structured as a single movement with six changes in tempo. The second half was devoted entirely to Camille Saint-Saëns’ Opus 78 (third) symphony in C minor, known as the “Organ Symphony” for the addition of a pipe organ during the latter portions of both movements. The “overture” for the program was “Flammenschrift” (fire-letter), composed by Guillaume Connesson and performed by SFS for the first time. At the beginning of the performance, Denève announced that the program would be dedicated to the memory of Michael Tilson Thomas.

The program was at its strongest in the second half. The symphony has a four-movement structure, but there is only a pause between the end of the Poco adagio movement and the Allegro moderato. Furthermore, the organ first appears toward the end of the Poco adagio, meaning that it figures as a “conclusion” for both of the halves. That said, the organ dominates over that conclusion, particularly towards then end, when it takes the “pedal point” motif literally! In his opening remarks, Denève made it a point to observe that the symphony had the same key structure as Ludwig van Beethoven’s Opus 67 (fifth) symphony in C minor. As far as I am concerned, however, any connection to Beethoven would have been incidental, if not accidental!

Nevertheless, the performance was a solid one, reminding me that occasional visits to Opus 78 tend to leave me in an upbeat mood. Sadly, this was not the case for the Poulenc concerto. Latry seemed to have difficulty finding the right way to balance his instrument against the ensemble. As a result, the clarity of the instrument was significantly more muddled than it would be during the performance of the Saint-Saëns symphony. This was a personal disappointment, since I have enjoyed Poulenc’s concerto ever since I first encountered it in my student days.

Ironically, Beethoven’s presence was much more evident at the beginning of the program. Unfortunately, Connesson never quite knew what to do with that presence. Once “Flammenschrift” established the “fatal fifth” gesture, the composer did little more than work it to death. Granted, the performance took only ten minutes; but that was five minutes too long (at least)!