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By ANDREW POWELL MUNICH \u2014 Eleven years ago the late Marcello Viotti quit as chief conductor of the M\u00fcnchner Rundfunk-Orchester<\/a> because he foresaw existential cuts in its budget. Happily the MRO survived, and today thrives. Tasked with exploring rare repertory, it is artistically the livelier of BR<\/a>\u2019s two orchestras, forcibly more daring than the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and free not to endlessly regurgitate Bruckner and Mahler. Its CD output<\/a> offers a peek: Des Simplicius Simplicissimus Jugend<\/em>, Trouble in Tahiti<\/em>, Braunfels\u2019 Verk\u00fcndigung<\/em>, P\u00e4rt\u2019s Te Deum. Much credit belongs with current K\u00fcnstlerischer Leiter<\/em> Ulf Schirmer<\/a>, who has fostered a rich string sound. But another MRO dimension is the Paradisi gloria<\/em> concert series, a legacy of Viotti that leavens each season much as Alexander Pereira\u2019s Ouverture spirituelle<\/em> brightens the Salzburg Festival.<\/p>\n That string sound and the spiritual programming overlapped poignantly last Friday (Nov. 13) in a sold-out concert at the Herz-Jesu-Kirche<\/a>, a chic shoebox of a venue in glass and louvered wood near Schloss Nymphenburg<\/a>. 25-year-old Lorenzo Viotti<\/a>, winner of the latest Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award<\/em>, manned his father\u2019s onetime podium for Poulenc\u2019s Sept r\u00e9pons des t\u00e9n\u00e8bres<\/em> framed by grief-laden essays of Messiaen, Les offrandes oubli\u00e9es<\/em> and Le tombeau resplendissant<\/em>.<\/p>\n The essays comprise baldly contrasted panels, with slow material that extends unrestrainedly. Both were written before the Avignon-born organist turned 23 and in the wake of the loss of his mother. Offrandes<\/em> (1930), a triptych, centers on a wall-thumping tantrum titled \u201cThe Sin\u201d for full orchestra; its serene, rather bland outer panels are in the strings alone. Tombeau<\/em> (1931) more astutely channels the composer\u2019s anger and acceptance in four sections, vif-lent-vif-lent<\/em>, which Viotti and the MRO traced with riveting precision.<\/p>\n The nature of Poulenc\u2019s suite, a personal Passion piece, brought to mind the elder Viotti\u2019s untimely death ten years ago, at age 50, not long after that anxious resignation. There was an elegance to his conducting, a rhythmic subtlety and rare degree of insight in lighter-limbed scores. Qualities much missed. Sept r\u00e9pons des t\u00e9n\u00e8bres<\/em> (1961) sets texts chanted during the Holy Triduum, specifically in prayerful vigilance as candles burn out, to signal the extinguishing of Jesus\u2019 life. The verse-and-respond form serves only as a basis for Poulenc, who boldly and equally deploys chorus and orchestra, and with chiseled calculation. By turns nostalgic, biting or sour, his ideas concisely distinguish each r\u00e9pons<\/em> and leave intense flavor. Only the relatively long last piece permits contemplation: Ecce quomodo moritur justus (See How the Just Man Dies)<\/em>, spun out wistfully over a rhythmic ostinato.<\/p>\n Simona Br\u00fcninghaus<\/a>\u2019s shaky but boyish soprano projected the innocence in the limited solo part (intended by Poulenc for treble voice, possibly a projection of himself). Although not always clear in its Latin, the BR Chor<\/a> navigated the often sharp contours with expertise and, for Judas mercator pessimus (Judas, the Worst Merchant)<\/em>, a certain brutality. Viotti mustered grandeur in Tenebrae factae sunt (There Was Darkness)<\/em> and due gravity for the brass-tinged Sepulto Domino (The Lord Having Been Buried)<\/em> despite mishaps in the MRO\u2019s winds. Throughout, the conductor kept balances in check and conveyed confidence in the music\u2019s ability to explain itself \u2014 a resignation of a different kind.<\/p>\n Photo \u00a9 Allmann Sattler Wappner Architekten<\/p>\n Related posts:
Published: November 19, 2015<\/span><\/p>\n
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