Immortal Love At The Mello
On Sunday, January 26, the Santa Cruz County Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Daniel Stewart took the stage at the Mello Center For The Performing Arts and performed Lieder Eines Fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer) (1895) by Gustav Mahler (1869-1911) featuring the marvelous voice of 25 year old baritone Yunpeng Wang; Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde (1885) by Richard Wagner (1813-1883) and Selections from Romeo and Juliet, Op. 64 by Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953).
It’s possible that the Santa Cruz County Symphony Orchestra under Daniel Stewart has now developed into the finest musical ensemble South of San Francisco and North of Los Angeles. The boundary is on the verge of shifting from microscopic to invisible. Michael Tilson Thomas and Gustavo Dudamel should be forewarned!
Mahler wrote the four poems during his painful relationship with Johanna Richter. He incorporated them into the body of Songs of a Wayfarer. The songs are Wenn mein Schatz Hochzeit macht (When my beloved marries), Ging huet Morgen uebers Feld (This morning I went over the field), Ich hab’ ein gluehend Messer (I have a gleaming knife) and Die zwei blauen Augen von meinem Schatz (The blue eyes of my beloved). Baritone Wang most beautifully performed Mahler’s poems. Wang’s German pronunciation was excellent, and his stage presence and artistry were impressive. The coordination between Maestro Stewart’s keen eye and ear, baritone Wang and orchestra were simply incredible. The vocal and instrumental textures merged into brilliant musical moments that clearly depicted Mahler’s despair along with his phenomenal work Kindertotenlieder (1901-04), composed in reaction to the illness (scarlet fever) and death of his two children. Both Stewart and Wang did their part to carry forth Mahler’s anguish, sorrow and melancholy state in this superbly performed work.
Wagner’s Prelude opened with the cellos followed by what was to be a spectacular musical interpretation of this well-known, at times overpowering work. The three Leitmotifs (Musical themes) that occur throughout the work (opening bars 1-3), The Glance, The Love Potion and Deliverance by Death. Stewart realized and achieved an impressive overall effect of passion, dynamic contrast, intensity and musical effectiveness as these themes wove their identity and musical magic throughout the work.
The orchestra performed seven selections from Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet with perfectly balanced textures between orchestral families ranging from delicate to intensely dramatic. As a touch of class on the part of Maestro Stewart, many soloists were singled out for their dynamic and wonderful artistry followed by another warm gesture for the entire orchestra to stand and be recognized. The concert ended and the standing, packed-house demanded no less than four appropriate curtain calls!