The Gathering Note

The Northwest Sinfonietta finished out its season Friday night with a triumphant performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony; all 50 musicians, 54 singers, four soloists and a conductor on the little Town Hall stage together and a big audience, including many children, to hear them.

This was the culmination of a successful winter’s exploration of all the Beethoven symphonies which music director Christophe Chagnard had been wanting to perform with the orchestra for some time. He paired the Ninth with a much less well known cantata which Beethoven wrote to two contrasting poems of Goethe, “Meeresstille und glueckliche Fahrt” (“Calm Sea and Prosperous Voyage”); the first about sailors mired in the doldrums, worried without wind for their sails, and the second when wind has arrived and the journey prospers.

The cantata is only ten minutes long and quintessential Beethoven, beginning with soft, long chords from both singers and orchestra, almost spooky in anticipation, and punctuated by sudden short blasts of sound. It’s almost possible to hear the progression, or not, of the wind in the music as well as the emotions of the sailors.

Paul Schultz conducted. His excellent Northwest Repertory Singers produced a surprisingly large sound without sounding pushed, but words were inaudible. Oddly, while the words were printed in the program, only the English translation was given of both this and the Ninth’s “Ode to Joy,” while the chorus sang in German.

The cantata was a prelude to the main part of the program, which Chagnard began by talking casually with the audience about the Ninth Symphony, chatting about the inception of the piece and the circumstances of its first performance, dissecting parts of it with illustrations from the orchestra, particularly the last movement, and generally making it a more approachable, more intimate experience for listeners. While his talk went on a little too long, the audience was clearly interested.

After intermission came the actual performance. Many of the musicians might not have had the opportunity to play the Ninth before, since it is not usually regarded as a work for chamber orchestra, and one principal player mentioned to me she was excited to do it. Suffice it to say that they played with panache, enthusiasm and energy, sounding fresh and with a fine propulsion to each long movement.

Chagnard brought out details which often get missed with huge forces. For instance in the last movement, when the” Ode to Joy” theme is heard first in the cellos and basses, then in the violas, I had never before heard clearly the delightful counter melody played underneath by the bassoons.

The orchestra, like the chorus, sounded surprisingly full, not at all too small to give this work its due. Of the four soloists, the voices of bass-baritone Clayton Brainerd and tenor Stephen Rumph rose easily above the musicians, but those of soprano Karen Early Evans and mezzo-soprano Sarah Mattox could hardly be heard. Also out of balance were the timpani in the first two movements, in both instances obtrusively loud despite being played with crisp pizzazz.

Hearing this symphony with smaller forces in a hall where no one is far from the musicians made this a more engaging experience. Although the concert ran two and a half hours, no one in the audience seemed to mind, the children were quiet, and the applause at the end was long and enthusiastic.

Next season, Northwest Sinfonietta moves from Town Hall to Nordstrom Recital Hall at Benaroya Hall where, said executive director Neil Birnbaum, it will be the second resident orchestra. Its five-program line up there is innovative, from one pairing Stravinsky’s “L’histoire du soldat” with Dougherty’s “Dead Elvis,” to another including movie music by Copland and Charlie Chaplin with the latter’s movie “City Lights’ on screen, to a contemporary cello concerto by John Tavener with Joshua Roman as soloist, and more. Should be worth hearing.