If You Go* What: Chattanooga Symphony & Opera celebrates "The Sea"* When: 8 tonight* Where: Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St.* Admission: $19-$79* Phone: 267-8583
"Behold, the sea itself."
As part of its final Masterworks Series, the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera paid homage to the sea with works by Claude Debussy and Ralph Vaughan Williams during a concert at the Tivoli Theatre Thursday night. The show will be repeated tonight.
Joining the CSO, which was conducted by Music Director and Conductor Robert Bernhardt, were soprano Stella Zambalis, baritone Mark Womack, the CSO Chorus and the Lee University Chorale.
The evening opened with Debussy's "La Mer" (The Sea, three symphonic sketches for orchestra).
Opening with the calm and tranquil "From dawn to midday on the sea," the piece move easily to "Waves at play" and finally "Dialog of the wind and the sea."
Following intermission, the guest performers joined the symphony on stage and the choir sang "Behold, the sea itself," the first line from Williams' "Symphony No. 1 (A Sea Symphony)."
The work, done in four parts, includes the words of Walt Whitman. With the house lights up, the audience was able to read along in order to fully appreciate the piece. While Whitman's words are certainly moving and Ms. Zambalis and Mr. Womack along with the symphony performed up to their usual fine standards, the star of this show was the combined choirs.
While these particular symphony pieces will not rank among my favorites, they did give the choir the room and the opportunity to really shine, and they did.