To ease the monotony, the production employed video projections by Adam Larsen and Anne Patterson. The images included cosmic star scapes, silk bed sheets, pure white Lillis, a pure white dove, and up-close footage of SF Ballet principal dancer Damian Smith in boxer-briefs. As a screen for the projections, a see-through curtain of strings adding to the ethereal, dream-like quality. The chorus could be seen behind the translucent images. Orchestra-with-video seems to be a growing genre-- like adding another instrument to the orchestration.
Frederica von Stade narrated in sensual French with the aid of amplification. Using mics might be considered cheating by purists but it was a wise choice-- she was able to inflect soft nuances into the speech-song that would not have been possible had she been wailing in a struggle to be heard over the orchestra. The amplification allowed her to maintain a relaxed, soothing tone.
Mezzo-sopranos Sasha Cooke and Leah Wool stood like two guardian angels on scaffolding erected on both sides of the stage. Their voices floated atop the orchestra, which Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas hushed to a gentle wind while they were singing. The supporting chorus ooh’ed and ahh’ed their way, starting in the wings, and and gradually moving to center stage along with the global crescendo, culminating in a thrilling Aleluia.
The first half of the piece was exciting in a different sort of way. Janáček’s Sinfonietta is five medium-length movements. It could easily be called a symphony as well-- it has the depth and size. But the more modest title of Sinfonietta also works, even though it employs 9 extra trumpets. It is grandiose without being pompous thanks to an idiosyncratic harmonic language-- that is dissonant but not the painful kind-- searching rather. It was a pleasure to explore this wonderful piece that I have never heard before (ditto for the Debussy).
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