The Tucson Symphony Orchestra employed perhaps its smallest ensemble outside of a trio or quintet arrangement on Friday night for Mahlerβs βDas Lied von der Erdeβ (The Song of the Earth).
About 20 musicians β two violins, a viola, bass and cello among them β provided the intimate soundscape to create an experience akin to a parlor recital.
You would be amazed at what a beautiful sound such a small ensemble can make under TSO Conductor George Hansonβs astute lead. Add in the vocal talent of mezzo-soprano Tamara Mumford and an admirable performance by Grammy-winning tenor Anthony Dean Griffey and you have the ingredients of a concert worthy of being included in the Tucson Desert Song Festival.
Fridayβs concert at Oro Valleyβs St. Andrewβs Presbyterian Church β which was presented by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance β was the first of three the orchestra performs this weekend. The concert repeats at Catalina Foothills High School at 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday; those performances are part of the song festival.
βDas Liedβ is comprised of six songs, alternately sung by the soloists. Griffey got off to a slow start, struggling a bit to sing above the orchestra in "Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde" (The Drinking Song of Earth's Misery). Frankly, Griffey looked a bit under the weather; after his solo,he sat down and dabbed his forehead with a handkerchief. His voice, especially sweet at its higher register, grew a bit stronger as the 63-minute piece progressed, but when he had finished his final song, Griffey slipped off stage and did not return until the final bows.
Mumford also struggled initially to find her voice, but when she did a few minutes into her first solo, "Der Einsame im Herbst" (The Lonely One in Autumn), she showed us why she has been a regular on the Metropolitan Opera stage and with some of the leading American orchestras including San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Her voice was terrifically dark and warm for βDer Einsameβ then bright and sunny on "Von der SchΓΆnheit" (Of Beauty). But her shining moment came in the finale, the sobering "Der Abschied" (The Farewell), which also proved to be the highlight for the chamber orchestra. The song runs a good 20 minutes and the orchestra gets to steal the spotlight for nearly half of it. TSO Concertmaster Lauren Roth was especially terrific performing the heavy lifting in the anemic string section.
Mumford commanded the attention of the audience loosely filling St. Andrewβs in the concertβs final moments, reaching this wonderfully controlled and pristine high note when she sang (in German) βFortune was not kind to me in this world!β It was simply breathtaking.
β’ Arizona Opera makes its Tucson Desert Song Festival debut Saturday night with Tchaikovskyβs βEugene Oneginβ at Tucson Music Hall. Soprano Corinne Winters, making her third Arizona Opera appearance, will make her βEugene Oneginβ debut in the role of Tatiana. Saturdayβs performance starts at 7:30; it repeats at 2 p.m. Sunday.
