PCO’s Beethoven visionary, daring

By Jill Timmons

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The Portland Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Yaacov Bergman presented an innovative and captivating performance of Beethoven’s two-act ballet, “Creatures of Prometheus” May 24 at the Kaul Auditorium at Reed College.

In their season finale, “Beethoven Underground,” the Portland Chamber Orchestra chose to stage an original multi-media version of the complete ballet; all of which was inspired by an outline for the ballet left by Beethoven.

From start to finish, the PCO was up to the task of Beethoven’s inspirational and challenging score. What made this performance a feast for the senses was the integration of narrative and visual art along with Beethoven’s complex score.

All three elements focused on the powerful archetypal story of Prometheus, the creation of humankind, the overarching theme of good versus evil and the hero’s journey.

The charged narrative was written and performed by author/storyteller David Robinson and it could not have been more entrancing. Performing for nearly two hours from memory, he led the audience through the potent and illustrative myth of Prometheus. Bringing the topic into current time, the audience was reminded of light over dark, beauty over destruction, and love over hate, with a gentle reminder of the power of the feminine in bringing love and life into the world.

The visual art that accompanied the performance was equally compelling. Throughout the performance the audience was dazzled by digital projections of paintings by New York visual artist Liz Gill Neilson, paintings that evoked startling images of archetypal creatures, mythical landscapes and the shimmering color fields that suggested throughout the presence of luminosity.

Beethoven’s little-known work is a treasure for music lovers. Although an early work, it is a precursor for many of his future compositions. In this multi-movement ballet it’s as if Beethoven is working out a number of compositional ideas and techniques that appear in subsequent works. The finale is the most obvious. Beethoven chose this thematic material for the “Eroica Symphony.” But what was so beautifully evident in the May 24 evening performance was the abundance of lyricism throughout this work, foreshadowing Beethoven’s only opera, “Fidelio.”

In his book, “Beethoven and the Voice of God,” British musicologist Wilfrid Mellers contends that Beethoven was searching throughout his lifetime for a kind of ultimate lyricism—a transcendent voice. “Creatures of Prometheus” and PCO’s performance brought to life that spiritual dimension of lyricism.

Bergman led the orchestra with precision and artistry. Through treacherous tempi changes, terraced dynamics and lightening fast syncopations, the orchestra performed with real mastery. Often Beethoven scored instrumental solos and cadenza-like passages that emerged from the orchestral texture. Bergman, in a masterful move, allowed each soloist to find his or her own expressive voice in these transcendent moments.

A number of soloists in the wind section achieved real beauty in tone, expression, and shape of the phrase, most notably Carolyn Arnquist, Pablos Izquierdo, Wendy Bamonte and Jennifer Bleth.

A high point of the evening was the scello solo by Georgienne Young. In her hands all the colors of the rainbow were evident.

The orchestra as a whole was an energized, tightly-knit ensemble. The communication between conductor and players was evident throughout. Bergman worked magic in balancing the brass with the strings.

The brass section, with its darkly hued colors, maintained richness and brilliance in their sound while balancing appropriately with the strings.

The strings could be fleeting and deft or suddenly robust and passionate.

This orchestra could turn on a dime. One of the cornerstones of classical style is the idea of contrast: contrast in dynamics, color, within instrumental sections or between motivic and lyrical passages. Bringing this earlier style of performance practice into present time requires a thorough grasp of earlier instruments, their timbres and the unwritten “rules and regulations” of how the music is to be performed. In Bergman’s hands, we were treated to an authentic rendering of Beethoven’s score.

In Oregon, it can be a tough business to have an orchestra—especially one that is not the Oregon Symphony. Regional orchestras, however, can take a page from the PCO program book. It took vision and daring to present this innovative multi-media performance, not to mention the right combination of artists to bring this to fruition. It worked. The audience of roughly 250 people was in rapt attention throughout the charged performance.

The arts can teach us many things about life—provide inspiration, catharsis, entertainment and even a bridge to the numinous. Perhaps that is what Beethoven had in mind when he chose the Prometheus myth for this ballet music.

In PCO’s vibrant performance the audience was connected to the numinous through music, art, and story. Like the Creatures of Prometheus, we too have the opportunity to choose between beauty and destruction, love and hate, peace and war.

The only thing missing from this performance was a full house.

Jill Timmons, artist-in-residence at Linfield College, performs internationally as a piano soloist and ensemble artist. She is currently at work with her husband Sylvain Frémaux on an translation of French author Joseph Lewinski’s biography of Swiss-Oregonian-Jewish composer Ernest Bloch.