concert review: San Francisco Symphony

[calimac]

I like choral concert works, I really do. Many of them, at least. (Opera is quite another matter.) But I rarely listen to them. Consequently both of the works on Charles Dutoit's week 2 program were new to me.

I loved Francis Poulenc's Stabat Mater. Luminously gorgeous, every phrase and harmony exquisite.

On the other hand, Hector Berlioz' Te Deum was Te-Dious. Too much of it was simply being As Loud As Possible. And even those parts that weren't had no creative beauty.

Comments

[voidampersand.livejournal.com]

Yes, the Poulenc was glorious.

The Berlioz should have been followed by the Mexican National Anthem. Berlioz wrote Te Deum to glorify Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte III. And every year on the Cinco de Mayo we celebrate the Battle of Puebla, where his army was defeated.