Review: ASO again looks to opera for musical thrills

Tenor Clifton Forbis sings during Act 1 of Richard Wagner’s “Die Walküre” Thursday night at Symphony Hall. CONTRIBUTED BY JEFF ROFFMAN

Tenor Clifton Forbis sings during Act 1 of Richard Wagner’s “Die Walküre” Thursday night at Symphony Hall. CONTRIBUTED BY JEFF ROFFMAN

Fresh from intermission Thursday night at Symphony Hall, Robert Spano, music director of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, strode across the stage, bounded onto the podium and immediately conjured up a churning theme in the cellos and basses, nestled under a dark viola tremolo, evoking a raging thunderstorm. More than an hour later, after conducting through the storm, fits of operatic passion and the euphoric reunion of long-lost siblings during the first act of Richard Wagner's "Die Walküre," Spano crumpled off his podium, seeming, for a moment, like he was tapped out of energy.

“Die Walküre” is but a small portion of Wagner’s monolithic 16-hour cycle of operas, “Der Ring des Nibelungen,” and Spano had programmed only the first act of the second opera in the four-part series. But he’s intimately familiar with the entire cycle. He previously conducted the complete “Ring” for the Seattle Opera in 2005 and 2009. After his first West Coast cycle, he spoke with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the undertaking, noting “the physicality, the athleticism” it takes to conduct such a demanding piece of music.

Spano is a noted Wagnerian, and while the symphony has programmed Wagner in the past, it's a wonder Atlanta audiences have only caught infrequent glimpses of Spano's "Ring." Audiences at the ASO are, of course, very familiar with Spano's opera conducting; he spends a good amount of time on opera — both in Atlanta and as a guest conductor elsewhere. Spano recently led the ASO in Gluck's "Orfeo ed Euridice," and in January, he conducted the Houston Grand Opera in John Adams' "Nixon in China."

Thursday, in a concert setting, soprano Twyla Robinson, tenor Clifton Forbis and bass Daniel Sumegi navigated an exposition-packed first act of "Die Walküre" with minimal acting during the final series of the ASO's 2016-2017 season. In the ASO's semi-staged and concert opera presentations, the orchestra is an obvious character in the action, and with Wagner's operas, the ensemble is nearly as important as the singers. Anchored by a legion of brass, the ensemble played the evocative music nimbly and with vigor.

The ASO under Spano has always been a willing mouthpiece for new composers and modern compositions. In Mark Buller’s ode to one of Shakespeare’s overlooked characters, “The Songs of Ophelia,” which opened the program, the orchestra found a hot-off-the-press, thematic work founded on pastoral insouciance and saturated with ominous dissonance.

The ASO commission came to the orchestra via the annual Rapido! composition contest. Sponsored by the Atlanta Chamber Players, the event challenges composers to write a piece of music set to a specific theme and instrumentation with a runtime of between four and six minutes on a tight, two-week timeline. Among other prizes, the winning composer secures the potential for an ASO commission.

The six-minute “The Songs of Ophelia,” which is completely separate from Buller’s winning chamber work, loosely traces the story of the object of Hamlet’s affection. The charming piece of music begins with a fluttery, effervescent string figure and regal horns before moving through a wide range of stylistic ideas.

Nestled between the two pieces, Benjamin Britten's "Four Sea Interludes," which appear in his opera "Peter Grimes," served as an appetizer for the dramatic music on the second half of the program. While the piece didn't include any singing parts, the inclusion of the operatic instrumental work underlined the night's theme: The ASO does opera very, very well. And there's more where that came from: Next season, the ensemble will perform Verdi's "Otello" and, in a collaboration with the Alliance Theater, Leonard Bernstein's operetta "Candide." But in the end, Thursday's tantalizing performance of a small chunk of Wagner's vast work posed the question: What have Atlanta audiences been missing?

CONCERT REVIEW

Wagner, Britten and Buller

8 p.m. June 1. Additional performance at 8 p.m. June 3. $29-$49. Symphony Hall, 1280 Peachtree St. N.E., Atlanta. 404-733-5000, www.atlantasymphony.org.

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