By Mel R. Wilhoit
The search for a new maestro for the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera extends into its second year as guest conductor Dorian Wilson ascended the podium at the Tivoli Theatre last week to kick off the symphony's current season.
Wilson boasts a daunting resume that includes prizes at most of the world's conducting competitions. A student of Leonard Bernstein, Maestro Wilson's repertoire spans an impressive range of operas, ballets, and orchestral works - both standard and neglected - and the list of European orchestras he has conducted is notable, with special connections to the finest Russian ensembles.
Two works occupied the program - Franz Schubert's and Dimitri Shostakovich's 5th symphonies. For a very young Schubert - age 19 - his "Symphony No. 5 in Bb Major, D. 485" may reflect doubts about the merits of the stormy Beethoven who had inspired his "tragic" Symphony No. 4. The work is subdued in both spirit and musical resources as the chamber-sized ensemble requires only five woodwinds, two horns and strings.
The work was lost after Schubert's death, only to have been discovered nearly 40 years later by Arthur Sullivan (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame). This is a deservedly popular jewel, characterized by the composer's wonderful grace and a wealth of melodic material.
Wilson led the ensemble sans baton, carefully sculpting the Mozartean-sounding lines with graceful, circular gestures. The orchestra played well with the second slow movement showcasing its delicate, perfectly balanced lines. Wilson seemed to coax the most profound beauty from the simplest of musical ideas. This movement was a musical revelation and Schubert at its best.
In stark contrast to the sunny Schubert stands the censored Shostakovich. In the midst of widespread success in his native Russia, he was stunned when Stalin walked out on one of his performances. Days later, the official Communist newspaper Pravda denounced his music as un-Soviet, cheap, and tuneless. He was "urged" to write music that was more tuneful, optimistic, heroic and appealing to the masses.
The resulting "Symphony No. 5, Op 47" remains one of music's great enigmas. Described by the composer as a "creative reply to just criticism," it seemed to reflect Shostakovich's re-education to proper Soviet values, yet many music critics have viewed the work as harboring hidden anti-Soviet elements. Whatever the composer's intentions, the symphony became a huge success in Russia and around the world.
For this tour-de-force the Maestro picked up a baton and led his enlarged forces with bold and dramatic gestures, certainly what one would expect from a student of the more choreographic Leonard Bernstein. Shostakovich's sprawling symphony often lurches between sections of brooding and bombast, tenderness and teasing, or seriousness and sarcasm. Again, Wilson was in total control with large, clear, expressive patterns-conducting right on the beat. And again, the slow movement - his time the third - seemed to rise above the others with its haunting swell of emotion. The maestro deftly controlled the flow of tension, reflecting the pain and suffering that seemed to well up from the depths of the human condition.
The final raucous march movement revealed Wilson leading the charge, balancing dispirit and disjointed ideas into a purposeful and fully satisfying musical romp. The audience erupted into a standing ovation. As this season's first guest artist, Wilson proved that he has something important to say and knows how to say it. A strong beginning to a new season.