Berkeley Symphony Orchestra at Zellerbach Hall Auditorium, May 4, 2017

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra presents Remembrance featuring guest conductor Christian Reif and soloist Denis Sedov
Zellerbach Hall Auditorium
U.C. Berkeley, Bancroft Way at Telegraph Ave, Berkeley, CA 94305 USA
8:00 PM, Thursday, May 4, 2017

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Dmitri Shostakovich: Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar

[8:07 PM lights down, announcements from René Mandel; dedication of tonight's show to the memory of Yevgeny Yevtushenko]

[8:13 PM dramatic reading of Yevgeny Yevtushenko's Babi Yar poems]

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Symphony No. 13 in B-flat minor, Babi Yar, Op. 113 (1962)

1. [8:24 PM] Babi Yar: Adagio
2. [8:41 PM] Humour: Allegretto
3. [8:49 PM] In the Store: Adagio
4. [9:01 PM] Fears: Largo
5. [9:15 PM] Career: Allegretto
   [show ends 9:29 PM]

Berkeley Symphony Orchestra

• Joana Carneiro: music director (absent);
• Marika Kuzma: chorusmaster;
• others vary by program, see http://www.berkeleysymphony.org/about/musicians/.

• Alumni of the Chamber Chorus of the University of California;
• Alumni of the Pacific Boychoir Academy;
• Members of the St. John of San Francisco Russian Orthodox Chorale;
• Bonnie Akimoto: reader;
• L. Peter Callendar: reader;
• Christian Reif: conductor;
• Denis Sedov: bass vox;
• Arje Shaw: reader;
• Victor Talmadge: reader.

It was a little confusing how tonight's show started off with dramatic recitals of the Yevgeny Yevtushenko poems that Dmitri Shostakovich had set for his symphony: I'd noticed the listing of actors and actresses names in the program, but some how missed reading any mention that they were going to do the reading BEFORE the concert instead of in-between movements or integrated into the performance. Guess I'm not the sharpest pencil in the box any more.

Anyways, the readings were properly dramatic, and did a good job setting the tone of the evening. Strangely, the texts as recited differed frequently from the translations printed in the program. Maybe someone in the know will spill the beans on that conundrum.

Dennis Sedov was terrific as the soloist: his voice was rich and deep, dropping now and then to an impossibly deep burnished growl of anger. Happily, the symphony seemed to have a good grip on the work tonight: when Shostakovich called for fast unison runs, the players mostly delivered: stuff like that is important – it's always distracting to hear things collapse into a mushy out of sync mess.

Before the show, I was sure that this was a BSO repeat, but afterwards, I was just as sure that it wasn't! I'm guessing that there must be another Babi Yar piece that confused me, or perhaps I was misremembering a Robert Greenberg lecture from his series with the ASQ. Dunno. Too lazy to investigate further! Seems easier just to admit further stupidity on my part.

Jessica Balik posted a review of the show for SFCV.

Back to the previous event! ☸ Up to the 2017 yearbox! ☸ Up to the 2017 event list! ☸ On to the next event!