New York Philharmonic – David Robertson, conductor; Patricia Bardon, Mezzo-Soprano. December 16, 2006.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Second Tier Center ($59).

Program
Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien: Fragments symphoniques (1911/13) by Debussy (1862-1918).
Adriana Songs for Mezzo-Soprano and Orchestra (2006 ; US Premiere) by Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952).
Night Ride and Sunrise, Op. 55 (1808) by Sibelius (1865-1957).
La Mer: Trois esquisses symphoniques (1903-05, rev. 1910) by Debussy.

If someone asks why I got tickets for this concert, I won’t be able to answer. Other than Debussy’s La Mer, I didn’t know any of the pieces in the program. And I am not particularly a fan of vocal music. This concert was in the series I subscribe to, and I didn’t bother to exchange the tickets for another concert.

Many concert-goers probably felt the same way I did, and on top of that this was the holiday shopping season, so it wasn’t surprising that the attendance was quite spotty.

I was surprised at the size of the orchestra for the first piece, The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian: Symphonic Fragments. There were three harps on stage. According to the program notes, Debussy wrote the music for a theater piece by Gabriele d’Annunzio who called it a “mystery play.” The premiere in 1911 wasn’t much of a success, and two years later Debussy asked his collaborator Andre Caplet to create the orchestral suite heard tonight.

The four movements of the piece are titled: The Court of the Lilies; Ecstatic Dance and Act One Finale; The Passion; and The Good Shepherd. The play depicts how Sebastian was killed by arrows. It was generally a pleasant (if a martyr play can be pleasant) piece with interesting lines and orchestration that evoke variously serenity, tension, and suspense.

Adriana Songs is derived from Helsinki-born Saariaho’s opera Adriana Mater and consists of four movements: Autumn Garden; I Feel Two Hearts; Furious Passions; and Life Regained. The story could be compelling, it talks of how good can triumph over evil and hatred. The mood set by the music generally supports that. One can associate different passages variously with struggle, mourning, furor, passion, and rage. Unfortunately, the music is a bit beyond me, it seems to be a bunch of motifs that don’t seem to lead anywhere. The French lyrics sounded pleasant enough – even though I don’t understand it. (Libretto by Amin Maalouf.)

This was Dublin-born Bardon’s New York Philharmonic debut. Her voice, at times quite strong, sometimes carried only intermittently into the Second Tier seat I was in. You wish she had a more auspicious debut.

The basis for Sibelius Night Ride and Sunrise is not entirely clear, but the line “the feelings of someone riding through the forest at night and then, after many hours, sensing the awesome silence of the pre-dawn, and finally glimpsing the ecstatic as the sun rises” sounds plausible and sensible enough. The program notes also say this is very optimistic by Sibelius usual dark standards. I was surprised at how energetic the night ride felt, though.

The three symphonic sketches of Debussy’s La Mer were originally called: Beautiful Sea at the Sanguinaire Islands; Play of the Waves; and The Wind Makess the Sea Dance. By the time he was done with the composition, the movements’ names changed to: From Dawn till Noon on the Sea; Play of the Waves (same); and Dialogue of the Wind and the Sea. Debussy father was an ex-Navy man who had wanted to send his son into a sailing career. The father got into legal trouble and Claude was sent to live with a family friend who steered him to the Paris Consevatoire.

The piece turned out to be less familiar to me than I thought. I generally like Debussy, usually after hearing a piece many times over. I need to listen to this some more, especially since I had trouble staying awake during the performance.

Robertson conducts two series in the 2006/2007 New York Philharmonic Season. By chance I saw both of them (the other one with Gil Shaham the soloist).

Tonight’s concert was a bit beyond me. The program notes (which I quoted extensively) were quite interesting, though.

The New York Times gives the concert a glowing review. They are especially appreciative of the program put together by Robertson and how the La Mer piece was performed.