Passionate performance

The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra launched its newly renamed Thursday night series, Symphonic Sessions, by showcasing one of the world’s finest sopranos hailing from our fair city, Andriana Chuchman.

The 75-minute concert (sans intermission), titled Berlioz’s Les Nuits d’été and Schubert’s Symphony No. 4, also featured the auspicious Canadian debut of Iranian conductor Hossein Pishkar, who led the program ranging from lush lyricism to tempestuous Sturm und Drang for a small audience of 660.

Chuchman’s artistry just seems to grow more luminous with each passing year, as the Ukrainian-Canadian singer continues to light up stages throughout North America and in Europe.

Her eagerly anticipated concert performances include shows at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, the National Symphony at Kennedy Center and Lincoln Center’s White Lights Festival, to name a few, as well as appearances with the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra and, particularly near and dear to the singer’s heart, Winnipeg’s Hoosli Ukrainian Male Chorus.

Last performed here in 2016, Berlioz’s introspective song cycle, Les Nuits D’ete — penned in 1841 for soloist and piano accompaniment and based on a setting of six poems by Theophile Gautier — takes listeners on a soulful journey through love, loss and memory, ultimately ending on a loftier note with hope for the future.

Following a briskly paced opening Villanelle evoking the joys of springtime, Chuchman — in her inaugural performance of the work — plunged into the subsequent Le spectre de la rose, bringing to life its long arching, lyrical phrases spun like gold.

Pishkar’s sensitive direction allowed the third movement, Sur les lagunes, to ebb and flow as a lamentation for a Venetian boatman losing his beloved, including flexible strings underpinning the singer’s expressive melodic lines like undulating waves.

It’s particularly striking to hear Chuchman, renowned for her crystal-clear upper register, now singing in her most lugubrious depths, including nailing a perfectly positioned low G-flat, leading to a plaintive Absence, further showcasing her rich palette of tonal colours and control.

The penultimate movement, Au cimetière: Clair de lune, becomes a further lament, with Chuchman now casting a spell as Pishkar matched her note for note, with well-balanced sections providing thoughtful commentary for Gautier’s plaintive poetry.

Nearly a full half-hour of the unrelenting (and seemingly paradoxical) melancholia that propels Les nuits d’été, as beautifully sonorous as it is, may not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, the finale, L’Île inconnue, returns listeners to more hopeful climes, as the soloist sings of an “unknown island” of eternal love.

Once again, Chuchman infused her overall performance with grace and the buoyant spirits heralded during the opening movement, ultimately coming to a gentle close that earned an enthusiastic standing ovation.

The program’s second half featured Schubert’s Symphony No. 4 in C minor, D.417, deceptively known as the “Tragic.” It’s one of life’s imponderables why this compact, unabashedly romantic romp through four symphonic movements hasn’t been heard locally for more than 40 years.

It was a showcase for Pishkar’s highly communicative style, featuring a full arsenal of expressive hand gestures, punched-out accents and lyrical sweeps of the baton. Adding icing to the cake is the fact that he led the entire work without score, further connecting him to the musicians — and by corollary, listeners — in dazzling fashion.

After the opening Adagio molto: Allegro vivace’s shocking first fortissimo chord that pierces the heart like a dagger, he launched into its driving thematic material with focused intensity, drawing sound out of his players that belied the composer’s usually gentler sensibilities so firmly rooted in the intimate chamber salon.

Then it was time for the languid Andante, given a noble treatment with the maestro leaning into its expressive accents. Slightly shrill strings in their uppermost register at times did not mar this overall satisfying performance, leading to a high-spirited Menuetto: Allegro vivace. Trio. Menuetto that would have been even more compelling with stronger countermelodies in the winds.

Nonetheless, Pishkar kept a taut rein on the players throughout, and particularly during the finale Allegro, further highlighting his impassioned, expansive approach, perfectly in tune with the orchestra.

The thoughtfully paced performance that seemed to gain momentum by the minute ultimately burst into a white-knuckled ride to the finish line, with this dynamo conductor, whom it is hoped will be seen on this podium again, well-earning the night’s second rousing ovation.

holly.harris@shaw.ca