Much is being made of the awards Castillo received in the United States for his adventurous programming. Whether this will work wonders for the PPO’s dwindling audience remains to be seen. Abrera herself commented that the opening night attendance could be improved.
For Castillo’s opening concert, he chose a program that was centered on the nostalgic and elegiac. Except for Angel Peña’s Trinity: A Symphonic Cycle, the pieces by Samuel Barber and Johannes Brahms look back either on time past or traditions forgotten. Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 is a lyrical meditation on childhood, while his popular Adagio for Strings, a transcription for string orchestra of the second movement from his String Quartet, is known for its use as mood music in Platoon, Oliver Stone’s movie on the Vietnam War. The piece also happened to be the first piece Castillo ever conducted on the CCP Main Theater stage 11 years ago. Brahms’ Symphony No. 4 in E minor looks back on the fin de siècle symphonic tradition, with the final movement a masterful tribute to the chaconne, which Bach immortalized in one of his solo violin sonatas.
Castillo’s program for his debut concert seemed perfect on paper but perverse in performance.
The Brahms Symphony, which could be sluggish, moved fiercely fast, as if the conductor himself was in a hurry to get home. We miss the opportunity to revel in Brahms’ wonderful musical architecture, such as the interplay of themes in the first movement (Allegro non troppo) that rise and fall in a natural cadence. The second movement (Andante moderato) likewise moved in a determined speed that belied its tempo, while the third movement scherzo was just as maniacally fast. In the finale, Castillo pulled the movement through the wringer, using it to show his command of the orchestra. Whether it served Brahms’ purpose was questionable. In this reading, the weight, grandeur and majesty of Brahms’ final symphony – described by contemporary critics as the composer’s valedictory – was missing. What we heard was something like the musical equivalent of a rush hour morning express train. At just a little over 30 minutes, this was the fastest Brahms Fourth we’ve ever heard.
If Brahms was speedy, the Barber pieces were sluggish, almost formless. Knoxville moved at a canter. While Castillo was attentive to dynamics, he failed to note the many aural details that support the soprano’s words. Instead, he drowned Camille Lopez-Molina’s dramatic performance with music. It didn’t help that Lopez-Molina’s timbre blended well with the orchestra. She did her best – and it is a hard piece to sing – but the conductor heard the music differently.
In the Adagio for Strings, Castillo let Barber’s music speak for itself, letting it take shape by itself. This music may be mournful to be almost funereal. However, this is one of the most passionate pieces of music written, a point he seemed to miss. He did wonders coaxing the music from nothingness and guiding it back again to total silence. If only he were much more imaginative in between.
Castillo showed his adventurousness in programming Peña’s Trinity, based on the three vital cosmic Hindu principles. The music may be exuberant, but it is wearying with its nods at French Impressionism (especially Debussy’s La mer and Prelude de l’apres-midi d’un faune), early Stravinsky (Petrushka and Le sacre de printemps), Bernstein and Charles Ives. But the conductor and the PPO did it so well, despite the lighting effects in the background. Is that part of Castillo’s adventurous programming, too?
Maybe it is too early to tell if Eugene Castillo will do wonders with the PPO in the next four years. The pieces for this concert season shows innovative programming (we are looking forward to John Adams’ Century Rolls on January 2005, Debussy’s Le Martyre de St. Sebastian on March 2005 and Tippett’s A Child of Our Time on April 2005), and planned collaborations with other CCP resident companies (Madama Butterfly with Philippine Ballet Theater this weekend) look promising, too.