Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

San Diego Symphony: Beethoven Haydn, Sibelius, Mahler, Aucoin told future

But didn't the prelude to Tristan und Isolde?

Matthew Aucoin
Matthew Aucoin

I had mixed feelings about Matthew Aucoin’s concert at the San Diego Symphony on Friday, January 25. The concert consisted of several short pieces and excerpts from larger pieces. I like that format. It is one which the recording industry has used for decades.

The theme of the playlist was Hearing the Future. The list featured music which currently looks to the future and which looked to the future in the past. Programming this playlist concert was a risk on Aucoin’s part. Anytime anyone creates a themed playlist, people like me are going to take exception to what was and wasn’t included.

The first two pieces were by Steve Reich and Thomas Adès. These composers use completely different mediums and time will tell if the future sounds like their music or not.

Next up was Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, fourth movement and the introduction to Haydn’s Creation. These two pieces puzzled me as I’ve always considered them to be the concluding chapters of the classical period as opposed to the start of something new.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Some would say The Creation is the crowning achievement of the classical period. I think Haydn would agree. The obvious choice for hearing the future from this period is the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3. I have a feeling Matthew Aucoin was interested in something finer that the obvious.

I was surprised to learn that my adoration of Sibelius is limited. The concluding movement of his Symphony No. 4 was on the playlist and I could not have cared less. I realized I only truly love his symphonies number one, two, and five, along with his violin concerto and, of course, Finlandia and Valse Triste.

My favorite musical selections were from Mahler’s Ruckert Lieder and Aucoin’s opera Crossing all of which included baritone Rodney Gilfry. The unfortunate fact is that Gilfry was singing in symphony hall from the very foot of the stage. He may as well have been singing in a park as there wasn’t a reflective surface within a hundred feet of his voice. I wouldn’t say his performance suffered for it but I did miss the immediacy which a better acoustical situation affords the voice.

During the selection from the Ruckert Lieder I had a revelation. Mahler never covers up his soloists in any of his vocal music except for, perhaps, the opening section of Das Liede von der Erde.

Mahler’s tenure at The Vienna State Opera is considered the golden age to this day. Could it be that Mahler took his experience as a conductor of opera and incorporated it into his compositions? I have no idea if that is accurate but I feel as if there must be a connection between Mahler’s ability as an opera conductor and his ability to allow the voice to be heard over his monstrous orchestral creations.

If I ever have a chance to hear Aucoin’s Crossing, I’m going. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve heard from it so far.

What piece do I think was missing for this playlist about hearing the future? The prelude to Tristan und Isolde. There has never been a more profound moment of hearing the future than when that music was premiered. We are still in its shadow.

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Woodpeckers are stocking away acorns, Amorous tarantulas

Stunning sycamores, Mars rising
Matthew Aucoin
Matthew Aucoin

I had mixed feelings about Matthew Aucoin’s concert at the San Diego Symphony on Friday, January 25. The concert consisted of several short pieces and excerpts from larger pieces. I like that format. It is one which the recording industry has used for decades.

The theme of the playlist was Hearing the Future. The list featured music which currently looks to the future and which looked to the future in the past. Programming this playlist concert was a risk on Aucoin’s part. Anytime anyone creates a themed playlist, people like me are going to take exception to what was and wasn’t included.

The first two pieces were by Steve Reich and Thomas Adès. These composers use completely different mediums and time will tell if the future sounds like their music or not.

Next up was Beethoven’s Symphony No. 1, fourth movement and the introduction to Haydn’s Creation. These two pieces puzzled me as I’ve always considered them to be the concluding chapters of the classical period as opposed to the start of something new.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Some would say The Creation is the crowning achievement of the classical period. I think Haydn would agree. The obvious choice for hearing the future from this period is the first movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3. I have a feeling Matthew Aucoin was interested in something finer that the obvious.

I was surprised to learn that my adoration of Sibelius is limited. The concluding movement of his Symphony No. 4 was on the playlist and I could not have cared less. I realized I only truly love his symphonies number one, two, and five, along with his violin concerto and, of course, Finlandia and Valse Triste.

My favorite musical selections were from Mahler’s Ruckert Lieder and Aucoin’s opera Crossing all of which included baritone Rodney Gilfry. The unfortunate fact is that Gilfry was singing in symphony hall from the very foot of the stage. He may as well have been singing in a park as there wasn’t a reflective surface within a hundred feet of his voice. I wouldn’t say his performance suffered for it but I did miss the immediacy which a better acoustical situation affords the voice.

During the selection from the Ruckert Lieder I had a revelation. Mahler never covers up his soloists in any of his vocal music except for, perhaps, the opening section of Das Liede von der Erde.

Mahler’s tenure at The Vienna State Opera is considered the golden age to this day. Could it be that Mahler took his experience as a conductor of opera and incorporated it into his compositions? I have no idea if that is accurate but I feel as if there must be a connection between Mahler’s ability as an opera conductor and his ability to allow the voice to be heard over his monstrous orchestral creations.

If I ever have a chance to hear Aucoin’s Crossing, I’m going. I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve heard from it so far.

What piece do I think was missing for this playlist about hearing the future? The prelude to Tristan und Isolde. There has never been a more profound moment of hearing the future than when that music was premiered. We are still in its shadow.

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Trophy truck crushes four at Baja 1000

"Two other racers on quads died too,"
Next Article

Poway’s schools, faced with money squeeze, fined for voter mailing

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader