Symphony's Big Finale Has Audience On Its Feet

The Seattle Symphony Orchestra, final subscription concerts of 1990-91 season; Gerard Schwarz conducting, with Carol Rosenberger, piano soloist; sponsored by Seafirst Bank. Opera House, last night and 8 p.m. tonight (443-4747).

It's called going out in a blaze of glory.

Music director Gerard Schwarz brought out all the artillery and the reinforcements in last night's finale of the Mahler First Symphony, when the eight French horns rose (as the composer instructed) to contribute to a solid wall of imposing brass sound.

The audience rose, too, for a standing ovation as the performance ended. As season-enders go, this one is an occasion worth rising to: Spectacular playing of a spectacular program.

You'd never guess that last night's concert was one in a procession of musical events for this orchestra and its conductor. After spending much of the past weekend in the Opera House pit (for Seattle Opera's "Don Giovanni," in which many of the musicians play, and which Schwarz conducts), the symphony prepared for yesterday's concert by spending the day in a recording session, putting Strauss' Symphonic Fantasy from "Die Frau Ohne Schatten" on tape.

Today the orchestra recorded Strauss' "Burleske" for Piano and Orchestra with pianist Carol Rosenberger (who played the work last night), before going on to a repeat performance of last night's concert.

This is a work ethic with a vengeance. There was no sense of fatigue, however, in the passionate conviction of last night's performances. A few details were askew, as they often are in programs of this complexity: In some spots, such as the interior of the "Frau Ohne Schatten" Fantasy, some fast-moving violin figures weren't together, and there were lapses here and there from a few key players.

But as a whole, this is an orchestra that's moving remarkably well through the repertoire that is increasingly appearing to be Seattle Symphony territory - the late romantics. The Strauss/Mahler program heard last night continues a recent programming trend that's heavy on the Bruckner and Strauss, and it's music that the orchestra does extremely well.

This also is home territory for Gerard Schwarz, who understands very well what to do with the musical forms - notably the waltz and landler forms - that permeate this music. No one can pack more musical expression into three-quarter time: exuberance, expansion, hesitation on the verge of the next beat, and suddenly a plunge into the next measure. The tempo of a movement such as the Mahler First's Kraftig bewegt is almost infinitely flexible, as Schwarz pushes and pulls the string sections' sound as if it were taffy.

Never ones to skimp on the orchestration, Strauss and Mahler also represent a sort of late-romantic glorification of the orchestra. They call for more brass, more woodwinds, more everything; the brilliant orchestration of the various sections and soloists gives nearly everyone a place in the sun. The "Frau Ohne Schatten" Fantasy has some great moments for the low brass (particularly trombonist David Ritt); the Strauss "Burleske" has a very fine timpani solo (played splendidly by Michael Crusoe).

Pianist Carol Rosenberger has a long history of musical collaborations with Schwarz, many of them recorded on the Delos label (of which she is vice-president and also a producer). Their partnership was evident last night in the Strauss "Burleske," which Rosenberger played with authority and precision. It's an interesting piece with some lovely melodic content, but also a lot of bombast.

This last pair of subscription concerts marks the retirement of six longtime symphony members: violinist Marilyn Garner (31 years with the symphony), cellist Ruth Grainger (33 years), violinist Elizabeth Lowe (42 years), double bassist David Postetter (40 years), violinist David Soter (43 years) and violinist Erna Soter (46 years). They have been with the orchestra when it was a part-time ensemble for musical moonlighters; on tour, on the picket line, and on the downbeat for countless rehearsals and concerts.

Any good orchestra is like a family; these people are the beloved great-aunts and uncles of this institution. Their faces and their musical contributions will be missed, no matter how gifted their replacements may be.