United States Beethoven, Symphony No.9 in D minor: Jennifer Holloway (soprano), Annika Schlicht (mezzo-soprano), Russell Thomas (tenor), Kwangchul Youn (bass), Chorus and Orchestra of San Francisco Opera / Eun Sun Kim (conductor). War Memorial Opera House, San Francisco, 26.10.2024. (HS)
What a puzzling evening. In lieu of the usual sixth opera scheduled for the autumn portion of its season, San Francisco Opera offered a one-night-only, non-subscription performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Billed as a celebration of the two-hundredth anniversary of the symphony’s premiere in Vienna, it was also a rare chance for the local audience to hear what conductor Eun Sun Kim, the orchestra and chorus could do in non-opera repertoire.
Kim’s performances in the opera pit have been exemplary, even revelatory: models of careful preparation, yet presented with a rare sense of freshness and just-right balance. They have created excitement and won Kim a five-year extension on her contract that now extends through the 2030-2031 season. A recent video documentary traced the way her detail-oriented approach produced a sensational series of Lohengrin performances in 2023.
None of those elements were discernible in Saturday evening’s sold-out performance in the War Memorial Opera House. Maybe it was the orchestra’s placement on the stage under a new and improved concert shell that had been used, in its first iteration, for several concerts of operatic music in the months coming out of the COVID-19 limitations. The orchestral sound did not bloom as it has done from the pit.
More to the point, the details that Kim so diligently brought out in recent opera performances were missing, especially in the first three movements of Beethoven’s symphony. A fast pace obscured the nuances of the opening measures; there was no sense of music coming together out of nothing. All the notes were there, and nicely coordinated to dynamics, but where were the subtle shadings of phrasing?
In the second movement’s Scherzo, the only rhythmic punch came from timpanist John Burgardt’s crisp interjections. The bounce of the dancelike music lacked the lift it should have. The headlong rush in the final measures felt, well, measured. The slow movement started significantly faster than the Adagio that Beethoven indicated, which peeled away some of its nobility, and the variations did not quite achieve their individual moods.
The finale, however, came together nicely. Kim had a grip on the tricky task of tying together the myriad short episodes into some sort of logical flow. Although the opening ‘storm’ music could have revved up more, the cellos and basses emulating a long recitative established the reprises of music heard in the first three movements with a nice contrast. When the same low strings quietly offered the ‘Ode to Joy’ tune, there was a welcome sense of finding a higher plane.
Once the voices entered, all was right with the world. Bass Kwangchul Youn, who is singing King Marke in the current production of Tristan und Isolde, brought mellow textures and a dark sweetness to his first statement of the famous theme. Tenor Russell Thomas answered with a bright, forceful sound. American soprano Jennifer Holloway, who is building a serious career starring in German and Austrian opera houses, lifted the top line with precision. Mezzo-soprano Annika Schlicht (an excellent Brangáne in this company’s Tristan) melded her voice smoothly with the others. The chorus led the way to a strong finish. At 72 strong, they delivered lustily.
Kim’s calendar is packed with orchestral performances. She has led concerts with the Berliner Philharmoniker and the London Philharmonic, and her 2025 dates include Rachmaninoff ‘s Symphony No.3 with the Boston Symphony and Los Angeles Philharmonic (the latter on a program with a new concerto grosso by Nico Muhly).
Whether it was not enough rehearsal to find the nuances that were missing in this performance (and to adjust to the new concert shell), or merely a difference for this orchestra between coordinating with chorus and voices and performing alone on stage, the problems with the first three movements kept this Beethoven Symphony No.9 earthbound when it might have lifted us to something special.
Harvey Steiman