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: Choppy Beethoven

Conductor John Nelson has an impressive resume. He's conducted four of the "big five" American orchestras. He's conducted at The Met and Lyric Opera of Chicago and has worked at several major houses in Europe. He also won a Grammy award for a recording of Handel's Semele on Deutsche Grammophon.

Taking all this into consideration, I didn't like his take on Beethoven's Ninth. I found his conducting to be frenetic, distracting, and disingenuous.

The first two movements were okay but when we got to the third movement, I'll admit I got angry.

There was no room in his conducting to allow this section to bloom. The tempo was trite. I understand taking a brisker tempo when an orchestra is unable to sustain a broader approach or when the audience might drift.

However, the San Diego Symphony is more than capable of sustaining any tempo. I was expecting this movement to be a revelation and it fell flat for me.

The finale had some nice moments but the soloists were wonderful.

When Bass Richard Zeller opened the vocal section, his voice filled the hall. Symphony Hall is a tough venue for soloists but this quartet marshaled their voices and "painted the back wall". Robert Breault handled the impossible tenor solo as well as could ever be expected. It is a brutal piece of music to sing. Soprano Heidi Grant Murphy and mezzo Susanne Mentzer sang with artistry and the ensemble sections sounded good.

The San Diego Master Chorale was serviceable. They seem to have been directed to sing with zero legato as the choral texture was aggressive and choppy. Again, there was no room in Nelson's conducting to allow a vocal line to form.

The gap between the quality of the orchestra and the quality of the Master Chorale is growing rapidly. The Master Chorale is a volunteer group and the better singers in town aren't in it. It might be time for the San Diego Symphony to consider paying a modest core of singers to be in the chorus.

The audience enjoyed the concert as they stood to their feet at the conclusion. It was a fine performance but based on what I've heard so far this season I was expecting much, much more. If Jahja Ling had been conducting I think it would've been better.

After the concert as my friend and I trudged up the hill on 7th street, I finally said, "I don't know what I'm complaining about, the concert was fine. It was good."

He agreed but added a caveat, "Great music is like pizza and sex--it's tough to get it wrong."

John Nelson conducting Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. We can hear Nelson's aggressive and choppy approach in this clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZhGFsugEQE

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

Previous article

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

$105 million bond required payback of nearly 10 times that amount
Next Article

Escondido planners nix office building switch to apartments

Not enough open space, not enough closets for Hickory Street plans

Conductor John Nelson has an impressive resume. He's conducted four of the "big five" American orchestras. He's conducted at The Met and Lyric Opera of Chicago and has worked at several major houses in Europe. He also won a Grammy award for a recording of Handel's Semele on Deutsche Grammophon.

Taking all this into consideration, I didn't like his take on Beethoven's Ninth. I found his conducting to be frenetic, distracting, and disingenuous.

The first two movements were okay but when we got to the third movement, I'll admit I got angry.

There was no room in his conducting to allow this section to bloom. The tempo was trite. I understand taking a brisker tempo when an orchestra is unable to sustain a broader approach or when the audience might drift.

However, the San Diego Symphony is more than capable of sustaining any tempo. I was expecting this movement to be a revelation and it fell flat for me.

The finale had some nice moments but the soloists were wonderful.

When Bass Richard Zeller opened the vocal section, his voice filled the hall. Symphony Hall is a tough venue for soloists but this quartet marshaled their voices and "painted the back wall". Robert Breault handled the impossible tenor solo as well as could ever be expected. It is a brutal piece of music to sing. Soprano Heidi Grant Murphy and mezzo Susanne Mentzer sang with artistry and the ensemble sections sounded good.

The San Diego Master Chorale was serviceable. They seem to have been directed to sing with zero legato as the choral texture was aggressive and choppy. Again, there was no room in Nelson's conducting to allow a vocal line to form.

The gap between the quality of the orchestra and the quality of the Master Chorale is growing rapidly. The Master Chorale is a volunteer group and the better singers in town aren't in it. It might be time for the San Diego Symphony to consider paying a modest core of singers to be in the chorus.

The audience enjoyed the concert as they stood to their feet at the conclusion. It was a fine performance but based on what I've heard so far this season I was expecting much, much more. If Jahja Ling had been conducting I think it would've been better.

After the concert as my friend and I trudged up the hill on 7th street, I finally said, "I don't know what I'm complaining about, the concert was fine. It was good."

He agreed but added a caveat, "Great music is like pizza and sex--it's tough to get it wrong."

John Nelson conducting Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. We can hear Nelson's aggressive and choppy approach in this clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZhGFsugEQE

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

Ball and Chain: San Diego Symphony Requiem

Next Article

Conductor Rafael Payare takes no prisoners in Escondido

The performance was carefully executed yet exciting.
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