Review: Vasily Petrenko evokes Ukraine in roaring ASO program

Defying tyranny seemed to be a provocative if unspoken theme of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s recent dynamite performance of works by Jean Sibelius and William Walton.

The superb Russian-British conductor Vasily Petrenko, 48, who led the two recent concerts at Symphony Hall, made international headlines a few years ago after condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine as “one of the greatest moral failures and humanitarian disasters of our century.”

The much-in-demand conductor suspended all his work in Russia until peace is restored.

For the February 13 Atlanta Symphony performance, Petrenko chose to conduct Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1, an 1899 piece that, like the composer’s nationalistic Finlandia, reflected a restive Finland struggling for independence from Russia. It wasn’t hard to see parallels with the modern conflict in Ukraine.

For the second half of the program, Walton’s roaring Belshazzar’s Feast, about an infamous Biblical tyrant of Babylon, also fit well with the theme.

A clenched fist of defiance would serve as an apt symbol of the first movement of the Sibelius symphony. It begins, however, with a long clarinet solo (evocatively played by Jesse McCandless), suggesting a vast, lonely, frozen landscape.

But then we get to the main theme of the movement, a portentous downward thrusting motif suggesting pitched conflict, with fierce hammering on the timpani — pointedly delivered by the orchestra’s timpanist, Michael Stubbart.

The symphony features a variety of other material: soaring melodies, rustic dances and stormy episodes. All lead to a triumphant conclusion, although one that’s more equivocal than the finale of Sibelius’ better-known Second Symphony. Petrenko drew impassioned and precise playing from the orchestra. Particularly memorable: the forceful brass passages and the burnished sound of the strings in the finale.

Following intermission, the orchestra was joined by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus for a thrilling performance of Belshazzar’s Feast. The 1931 work, in English, relates the tale from the Book of Daniel of the neo-Babylonian King Belshazzar, who holds a great feast and commits the blasphemy of drinking from vessels that were stolen from the first Jewish temple.

As Daniel relates, a man’s hand appears and writes on the wall, casting divine judgment on Belshazzar: “Thou art weighed in the balance and found wanting.” That night, Belshazzar is slain and Babylon falls.

Walton’s wonderfully boisterous work is too rarely heard, perhaps because of the huge forces needed to bring it off successfully. Under Petrenko’s leadership, the combined orchestra, soloist, chorus and added brass filled Symphony Hall with a glorious sound.

Nathan Berg, with a resonant bass-baritone, was the excellent soloist. I particularly appreciated Berg’s expressive and deliberate approach to the work’s narrative. Often, a soloist will rush the narrative. Berg offered a fresh, thoughtful approach.

The chorus, superbly prepared by ASO Director of Choruses Norman Mackenzie, performed with utter commitment, negotiating the work’s stark dynamic contrasts with passion and nimble professionalism. It was a joy to see the concentration on the faces of the 170-voice chorus and the way many singers threw themselves physically into the work.

The chorus’ diction was strong, but the English text projected above the stage was still a welcome addition to the performance. The work’s added brass were not placed in the balcony, as is often the case, but rather situated on stage on the audiences’ left, perhaps taking away some of the dramatic effect of the additional musicians.

Petrenko pulled out all of the stops yet managed to keep this sometimes unruly work in control. Early episodes, such as “By the waters of Babylon,” were haunting and beautifully phrased. Later sections had the chorus reveling in pagan decadence, praising the gods of iron, gold, brass and wood in some of Walton’s most colorful orchestral writing.

With Petrenko at the helm, the final choral section, an almost hysterically jubilant celebration of Babylon’s fall, was delivered by the massed forces with raucous, rafter-shaking energy and enthusiasm, bringing the performance to a magnificent conclusion.

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Paul Hyde is a longtime arts journalist and English instructor in Upstate South Carolina. He writes frequently for the Greenville Journal, South Carolina Daily Gazette and Classical Voice North America.