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Reviews of the Brahms Requiem
Performed with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra:

The Hartford Courant: HSO Director Auditions Start With A Challenging Shift
by Jeffrey Johnson
November 14, 2009

The Hartford Symphony began the public phase of its search for a new music director with Constantine Kitsopoulos, the first of seven candidates auditioning with the orchestra this season and next. Kitsopoulos conducted Schumann's Manfred Overture and the German Requiem by Brahms in the Belding Theater at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts Thursday night.

Anytime one hears a guest conductor, it takes time to adjust. The sound produced by Kitsopoulos took extra time to understand, in part because it differs dramatically from that of HSO musical director Edward Cumming, and in part because of the chosen program, which made the change harder to assimilate.

Kitsopoulos emphasized the practical and produced a clean and tidy sound. He opened the Manfred Overture by taming it: organizing its chaotic nature with a solid rhythmic foundation. The syncopations and metric twists were anchored by his clear and sharp beat patterns. Kitsopoulos had no problem moving the orchestra through tempo adjustments, and he effortlessly negotiated the work over the dangerous terrain in which it ends; in a disintegration of sound.

But the work left an unsettled impression. In part, the music itself is unsettled, but beyond that there was not enough time to absorb this different approach to the HSO sound. After no more than 10 minutes of playing, there was an intermission. It didn't feel right. "We just sat down!" I heard one couple say in mid-aisle.

In the second movement of the Brahms requiem, it finally became clear that Kitsopoulos was transmitting the energy that resonates out of an opera pit on the symphonic podium. It was a style meant to be heard, not seen.

In spite of the attention given to this search process, it was the Hartford Chorale singers, prepared by music director Richard Coffey, and two soloists in particular, soprano Amanda Forsythe and bass-baritone Kevin Deas, who carried the requiem.

The Chorale nailed the difficult choral entry - from which the spirituality of the work seems to emanate - with perfect balance and lovely German diction.

Deas seemed to make individual eye contact with everyone in the theater when he sang his third movement solo. He wanted to engage us, and did. His singing became a prayer with both logic and passion. Forsythe poured sound effortlessly in her fifth movement solo. Her voice is rich and harmonizes vividly with orchestral colors. When clarinetist Curt Blood matched Forsythe's tone perfectly on her last pitch, it sounded as if her voice became the clarinet.

Kitsopoulos worked well with the soloists and seemed to be helpful to the Chorale as well. His musicality was always apparent.

Though this program was not one with many relaxed and light moments, Kitsopoulos has extensive experience in pops and in Broadway conducting. Yet the event lacked the zip and fire that have come to be associated with the HSO.

Copyright © 2009, The Hartford Courant

In The Spotlight: Schumann & Brahms
by Terry Larsen
November 14, 2009

So many love choirs, orchestras, and the great musical works that feed them, with the monumental ?Ein Deutches? Requiem being one of the most cherished. The instruments and vocals all meet with the other necessary element of the ritual sharing of sonorous beauty -- the audience. These are people who hope to leave those great halls changed, at least for the moment; and somehow better for having been there.

The Bushnell's intimate Belding Theater was set for just such an experience. The event had the added appeal of being an audition for the post of Musical Director of the Hartford Symphony by guest conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos.

The orchestra and chorale were very well prepared for the pairing of Romantic era works on the bill. The orchestra performed both pieces concisely, with dedication to the score and an understanding of the style of the period. Although there were some of the inevitable balance issues that occur when voices and instruments occupy the same time and space, the chorale and orchestra performed admirably throughout the Brahms. Both soloists sang beautifully: Mr. Deas with fine diction, a compact, expressive power, and rich timbre; Ms. Forsythe with a lithe, well supported line that floated beautifully above the accompanying orchestra and chorale.

That being said, this reviewer was a bit disappointed by both performances, reluctantly laying the responsibility on the shoulders of Kitsopoulos. His direction seemed bland, without passion or real conviction. His gestures and demeanor were square, perfunctory, and did not anticipate from moment to moment the changes in dynamic, velocity, and emotion demanded by works of this period. There was no sense of urgency in the story telling. He made no compelling demands on the performers to aspire to that ineffable moment that transcends the requirements of the page and the beat pattern. Despite the polite standing ovation offered by the audience, I left the hall with a somewhat puzzled feeling that I must have missed something. The forces were very much in place and a beautiful was moment at hand, however, Kitsopoulos did not seize the opportunity to bring it all to life.

Copyright © 2009, In The Spotlight, Inc.