Ludvig van Beethoven: pretty fly for a deaf guy

JULIA PAOLITTO/YH from grace to terror, Beethoven's Ninth stretches an orchestra's range.

Perhaps more familiar to some as the favorite anthem of A Clockwork Orange's Little Alex, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony will again be brought to life this Sat., Feb. 6. Performed by the Yale Symphony Orchestra and the Yale Chorus--an ad hoc group composed of the Glee Club, Yale Camerata, and Freshman Chorus--the work is no less "horrorshow" than when it appeared in Stanley Kubrick's film.

Nine has historically been a daunting, in some cases fatal, number for composers. In many cases the number nine marks the end of a composer's lifespan, symphonic or otherwise. Both Mahler and Schubert died shortly after completing their ninth symphonies, Bruckner left his unfinished at the time of his death, and Beethoven, totally deaf as he composed his last and greatest piece, died only three years later.

As befits Beethoven's final work, the symphony opens unpredictably, with that enigmatic interval--the perfect fifth. Its ringing, mystical character gives way to a slowly gathering accretion of energy provided by the winds, brass, and low strings until its explosion into the epic main theme. Numerous gentle elaborations of ancillary themes feature the principal players of the wind sections: oboist Justine Cohen, SY '01, clarinetist Daniel Friberg, ES '01, and bassoonist Loren Stewart, BR '99, are just a few who contribute to the beautifully executed, cascading wind passages. Lyrically winding their way through the variations of the theme, the violins, flutes, and oboes demonstrate particularly elegant ensemble work.

Soon enough, however, these serene measures yield to the terrible power of the principal theme, proclaimed by the strings, brass and timpani. At the end of the opening movement, the symphony's coda returns to the same ominous perfect fifth which so mysteriously began the movement.

The infrequent moments during which intonation and balance suffer due to tempo and dynamic insecurities do not significantly detract from what is otherwise a superb performance by the YSO.

The Ninth is the only one of Beethoven's symphonies to place the Scherzo (Italian for "joke") as the second movement. Music director Shinik Hahm's energetic conducting and furious tempo lead the orchestra down a dizzying path, marked by boisterous interruptions from the timpanist, Isaac Weiner, ES '99. The Scherzo is executed with absolute precision and a little humor.

The third movement, Adagio molto e cantabile, is the emotional core of the symphony. Its introspective, sometimes even melancholy quality is moving in a way that the powerful tutti sections of the first and last movements cannot match.

Although precise technical execution of the entire work characterizes the YSO's interpretation, the orchestra's wind and brass sections are at their finest in the stentorian finale, the "Ode to Joy." The instrumental passage that begins the Presto movement leads seamlessly into the finale, marked by virtuosically sung lines of the soloists: soprano Julianne Borg, MUS '98, mezzo-soprano Barbara LeMay, MUS '99, tenor Mark Calvert, MUS '99, and bass-baritone Clayton Brainerd, MUS '99. The ensemble's coordination with the Chorus is striking.

Also scheduled for Saturday's all-Beethoven performance is the Third Piano Concerto in C minor. Composed in 1800, the Third is the most polished and mature of Beethoven's early pieces for piano and orchestra, the first work in which his distinct idiom of phrasing and skill as both a concerto and orchestral writer truly shines. The soloist, School of Music Piano Professor Claude Frank, promises a performance as stellar as his interpretation earlier this year with the Norwalk Symphony. Once again, the YSO provides a well-controlled, richly colorful accompaniment that allows a few wind soloists to demonstrate their superb techniques.

This evening of masterpieces from one of the titans of classical music will leave your heart pounding and your ears ringing with the sublimity of Beethoven's genius.

Back to A&E...