The crisp air, rainless gray sky, and golden leaves spoke of a perfect autumn Saturday afternoon in the Wallingford neighborhood. Inside the Chapel Performance Space housed in the historic Good Shepherd Center, the atmosphere was cozy and warm. The intimate venue’s cathedral-style ceilings and wood-paneled walls provided an ideal setting for the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra (SMCO) season opener concert, featuring a delightful program of music by Hector Berlioz and Igor Stravinsky.
Founded in 2009 by conductor Geoffrey Larson and a group of local performers, SMCO serves as an important resource for up-and-coming classical musicians. The orchestra is mostly comprised of young professionals in their 20s and early 30s, including many graduates from local universities like the University of Washington, Western Washington University, and Central Washington University. Performing with SMCO gives them the opportunity to tackle adventurous repertoire for smaller ensembles. Besides giving Seattle audiences a sneak peek into the future of local classical music, SMCO provides a chance to hear works by emerging composers alongside beloved gems.
Since 2012, Larson has shared conducting duties with Associate Conductor Kim Roy, who also works with the Seattle Rock Orchestra and directs the Snohomish County Music Project and the Westside Symphony. Roy took the podium for Saturday’s concert, bringing a clear, no-nonsense conducting style to the short program, which contrasted Berlioz’s Romantic orchestral song cycle Les nuits d’été (“Summer Nights”) with Stravinsky’s small ensemble work L’Histoire du soldat (“A Soldier’s Tale”).
The orchestra was joined by local mezzo-soprano Melissa Schiel for “Summer Nights.” Originally composed in 1841 for voice and piano, Berlioz arranged the work for orchestra and vocal soloist in 1856. Based on short poems by Théophile Gautier, the six songs represent the height of the 19th century Romantic Era in both poetry and music. Despite the cheerful title, the songs actually evoke a bit of dark spookiness, conjuring up imagery of faded roses, lost love, and ghostly apparitions. It’s a perfect work for the Halloween season.
After a few bumpy transitions between soloist and ensemble during Villanelle (“Pastoral Song”), the first song of the cycle, Schiel and the orchestra clicked in for the rest of the piece. Schiel’s captivating mezzo-soprano voice floated perfectly above the string-heavy ensemble, sounding both warm and deliciously live in the Chapel’s intimate, wood-filled space. As a soloist, Schiel is delightful to watch in action. Her tasteful, well-timed gestures and expressions added personality and charm to the performance.
Berlioz’s short songs are full of memorable musical moments. Especially effective were the dense string textures of the third song, Sur les lagunes (“On the lagoons”), which recalled images of a stormy sea. Schiel’s chilling refrain — “Ah! To go to sea without love!” — punctuated the layers of string sound, blending perfectly with a haunting horn call. Flutists Maggie Stapleton and Jessie Polin brought a sweet quality to their solo refrain in Au cimetière (“At the cemetery”), evoking the sound of a dove’s “morbidly tender melody” amidst the graves.
The final half of the program was devoted to another Halloween-appropriate work, Stravinsky’s “A Solider’s Tale.” This programmatic piece tells the story of a soldier who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for worldly riches. Written for an unusual 7-piece ensemble of violin, double bass, clarinet, bassoon, trumpet, trombone, and percussion, the work features signature Stravinsky characteristics, including overlapping rhythmic patterns, clashing harmonies, and meandering melodies. Stravinsky’s interest in different musical genres is apparent here, especially in a trio of dances that touch on tango, waltz, and ragtime.
SMCO’s performance of the fiendishly difficult piece was full of thrilling solo and ensemble playing. After mounting tension in the ironically-titled “Pastorale” movement, which had clarinetist Sabrina Pope and bassoonist Jamael Smith reaching to the very top of their ranges, bold performances by David Hall on trumpet and Sota Takagi on trombone strode to the forefront, especially during the energetic “Marche royale” movement.
Depicting the story’s wayward soldier, violinist Mitchell Drury brought a decidedly fiddle-like character to virtuosic passages that often had him sliding through unusual chords and harmonic progressions. Bassist Ross Gilliland and percussionist David Solomon brought a jazzy quality to many of the movements, especially during pizzicato sections in the bass. Despite occasional issues with balance which left me yearning to hear more from the woodwinds, the ensemble worked very well together, fused by Roy’s clear direction and a solid sense of momentum from bass and percussion.
Concerts like Saturday’s season opener demonstrate why SMCO is an ensemble to watch. Larson, Roy, and the orchestra combined inspired programming and an intimate concert setting with energetic performances from some of Seattle’s best young musicians, all in a bite-sized package (90 minutes including intermission) that’s inviting to families with children and newcomers to classical music.
There’s a lot to look forward to in SMCO’s upcoming season. February brings a program of chamber music, while June’s season finale features the winner of the SCMO’s composition competition, as well as the North American premiere of works by Alex Baranowski and Gabriel Prokofiev (grandson of Sergei Prokofiev).
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