WILMINGTON, NC – The North Carolina Symphony opened its 2024-25 Wilmington series at the Wilson Center. The very fine North Carolina Symphony is one of the few state orchestras in the country, and their 1,500-seat Wilmington performance home is of a quality that any cultural center could be proud to offer to their community and region.
The concert was conducted by Joseph Peters, who holds the position of Associate Principal Oboe and English horn in the NC Symphony. The first work on the program was the early Serenade in E-flat, Op. 7, for 13 wind instruments by Richard Strauss. Before Strauss wrote his massive and innovative tone poems and the ground-breaking operas Salome and Elektra, he was a gifted composer in a more traditional romantic style – a style to which he returned later in life.
At 9-10 minutes, the Serenade was an excellent opener to the program. It was performed by the ensemble with shapely phases and excellent cohesion in blend. The lyrical first section is followed by a middle section with a mood of quiet agitation that gradually becomes more overt. The smooth quality of the opening gave way to tightly executed sharper articulations in the middle section. Along the way there was a lovely, hushed sound and the peak was rich and smooth. A calm descent brought the piece to a thoughtful end.
The North Carolina Symphony has always had an outstanding wind section, and their beauty of tone and phrasing was a pleasure in this piece. Peters led with a beat that emphasized long lines, and in this music for winds that was very fine.
Louise Farrenc (1804-75) was next, represented by her Symphony No. 3 in G minor, Op. 36. It was composed in 1847 and premiered two years later. This is yet another female musician who was well-known in her time and is happily being rediscovered. Farrenc had been admitted to the Paris Conservatory at the unusually young age of 15 to study as a pianist, but as a woman was not permitted to study composition. She sought out training from the important figure Anton Reicha, eventually becoming accomplished both as a pianist and composer. At 17 she married a flutist and they performed together. In the 1830s she became well-known as a solo pianist, at around the same time as Marie Pleyel and the young Clara Schumann. In the 1840s, on the strength of her reputation as a pianist, she became a professor of piano at the Paris Conservatory, the only woman in the 19th century to hold that position. Her music was also known in her time. Along with the three symphonies, she composed a good deal of piano and chamber music. Now, with the rise of interest in female composers, her works are returning to performance.
Her third symphony is a well-built piece in the by-then traditional four movements. At almost 35 minutes, it is a substantial composition and formed the core of the evening’s program. There is a distinctly operatic quality to some of the themes. While Farrenc herself did not write an opera, that was the leading musical genre in Paris, and popular all over Europe.
The first movement began with lyrical winds and moved quickly to agitated strings. The overall performance was delivered with verve. The second movement was lyrical, with long phrases. The orchestra shone in this style, and also in a section with long melody over staccato accompaniment. The lively Scherzo movement had a bit of a dark quality in the opening, and the energetic, briefer closing movement brought the symphony to a rousing conclusion. If the symphony does not seem likely to enter the repertory as an established masterpiece, it is nonetheless fully the equal of works by other 19th-century composers being heard today.
Peters’ subdued conducting style focusing on long phrases showed itself less advantageously here than in the Strauss. This much longer and more varied, sometimes expansive piece called for far greater delineation of articulation and rhythm, as well as a wide range of dynamics. The significant lyrical sections corresponded to Peters’ style. That beat tended to remain similar through substantial changes of rhythmic character and dynamics. Still, conductor and orchestra seemed to work well together, and the performance was effective.
After intermission, the concert concluded with Beethoven’s effervescent Symphony No. 8. Beethoven may be more often thought of as a stormy and conflicted figure, but his music is replete with genial good spirits and outright humor; this symphony gives listeners both. It is upbeat, sometimes funny, and also a substantial piece. Beethoven himself thought it one of his finest, including in comparison with his masterful 7th symphony written around the same time.
The second movement is famous for perhaps evoking the metronome, at the time approaching the stage of being patented by Beethoven’s friend Johann Mälzel. Beethoven was the first major composer to use this new-fangled device, outfitting his works with markings that have tended to confound performers ever since due to the high speeds. It may be, though, that this movement evokes the second movement of Haydn’s earlier 101st symphony, nicknamed “The Clock” for a similar ticking effect. Beethoven was greatly influenced by Haydn, so the connection is plausible.
The orchestra played this piece with all the energy one could hope for. With all the rhythmic impetus, a stand-out moment was the expressive trio in the third movement, which was very lushly played by the horns. One was brought back to the sound heard earlier in the Strauss (whose father, by the way, was an outstanding horn player who performed in Wagner’s Ring cycle when it was still new). The horns also intertwined finely with the winds in this section. But it was the rhythmic energy that predominated. The strong, repeated stresses carried weight and sometimes humor. The development of the first movement built up significant drama, and the ending of the symphony bubbled and rollicked. Peters showed a more rhythmic character here than previously, with small but precise guiding upbeats and cues that served the ensemble and the character well.
The hall was regrettably not more than half full, but the audience responded with due appreciation. The citizens of North Carolina have the unusual benefit of an orchestra that is supported by budgeted state tax dollars. It is one of the finest and hardest-working artistic organizations in the state, and it brings top-quality music to listeners over long distances and in a wide range of performance settings. This concert illustrated that we have a lot to be grateful for.
