By ANNA CREBO
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
HYANNIS — The Cape Symphony Orchestra, led by longtime artistic director Royston Nash, launched its 2005–06 season Saturday night with a vibrant program capped by Ludwig van Beethoven's monumental Symphony No. 9 (“Choral”).
Sung with clean articulation, ringing sound and infectious high spirits by Boston's 100-voice Chorus pro Musica and four fine soloists, the last (choral) movement gathered such momentum and energy that, at the conclusion, the audience jumped to its feet, cheering.
Altogether, it was the kind of meticulously thought-out, yet spontaneous sounding performance that made one want to hear it all over again.
For that matter, the Viennese audience that attended the May 7, 1824 premiere of Beethoven's last symphony, far from being shy about applauding between movements, interrupted the performance at one particularly exciting timpani entrance in the second movement scherzo and applauded wildly until the orchestra stopped and repeated the entire movement from the beginning.
Among the soloists, German-born tenor Vincent Wolfsteiner particularly had the bright, full-bodied “heroic” sound and affirmative presence called for. His high notes, though mainly heard in ensemble work, were thrilling. Boston baritone Philip Candilis (who is also a medical doctor) impressed with his warm, dignified demeanor and sonorous-voiced delivery, although occasionally the low notes were a bit sketchy. In duet passages, the voices of the two men blended together beautifully.
Young New York-based soprano Adrienne Danrich, who substituted for an ailing Margaret O'Keefe on 48 hours notice (although Danrich had never previously sung the part), added a glistening top to the ensemble work and sang solo passages with an unforced bell-like tone that penetrated to the far corners of the hall.
Whether it was because there was some acoustical problem or the tessitura (range of notes) was wrong for her voice, mezzo-soprano Pamela Dellal had some difficulty being heard, but her spirit and intensity were evident.
Under Nash's finessed, assured guidance, the 85-member orchestra negotiated the many treacherous “stops and starts” and tricky transitional passages Beethoven incorporated into his 9th Symphony, which evokes, in a visceral, immediate way worthy of a Michelangelo, the grandeur of creation struggling to emerge out of chaos.
The symphony culminates in the 4th movement with the emergence of humanity (the voices) and, in terms of the composer's idealistic philosophy, the “Universal Brotherhood of Man.”
Woodwinds, particularly the clarinets and oboes, were exceptionally fine in Saturday's performance, and strings were, for the most part, cohesive and singing. Treacherous French horn entrances and extended solo passages were fluent and unobtrusive, adding character and color without bombast. Trumpets and trombones generally played with stirring spirit and burnished sound. Timpani work by Mark Prall was impressive.
The well-integrated program began with the grand Triumphal March from Giuseppe Verdi's late opera, “Aida,” laced with pompous trumpet fanfares and resonant brass choruses. Occasionally, trumpets were inconsistent and lower brass fortissimos were rough and blaring.
Legendary conductor Leopold Stokowski's colorful, dynamic orchestral transcription of J. S. Bach's best known organ work, his “Toccata and Fugue in D-Minor, BWV 565,” was a thoroughly unanticipated delight on Saturday's program. Stowkowski used his lavish 1927 arrangement in Walt Disney's 1940 movie “Fantasia,” with the maestro conducting his equally legendary Philadelphia Orchestra for the array of classical compositions used in the animated film.