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Mountain Laurel and the Pittsburgh Symphony resonate
By TOM KANE
BUSHKILL, PA — It was like attending an engagement party where
the main question was: would these two be compatible? Do they seem to be
meant for each other and will the union last?
Any doubts about the union of the Pittsburgh Symphony and
the Tom Ridge Pavilion of the Mountain Laurel Center for Performing Arts
were dispelled at the debut performance on Friday, August 8.
The Pittsburgh Symphony’s reputation is well known, but can
the hall do justice to the full resonance of one of America’s greatest orchestras?
Unequivocally, it can—and grandly.
Every new symphonic hall that opened within the last 30 years
in America has been held up for comparison with the great halls of the country:
Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Academy of
Music, Avery Fischer Hall at Lincoln Center, Symphony Hall in Boston and
the National Symphony at the Watergate in DC. This one will too.
This reviewer is not a professional acoustical engineer. However,
I have developed an informed listening ear through a lifetime relationship
with classical music and as a singer of operatic roles.
As the orchestra warmed up, the rich rumblings resonated,
and it was reminiscent of a special moment when I first experienced a concert
hall, the Academy of Music at Broad and Locust Avenue, to hear the Philadelphia
Orchestra under the baton of Leopold Stokowski.
The look of a great orchestra was there, with the warm reddish
browns of the violins, cellos and basses, the brilliant reflections of the
brass and reeds, and the intensity of the musicians preparing their instruments
and the scores on their stands.
It’s always a keen moment of anticipation when the maestro
raises his baton and the violinists in unison position their bows in readiness
to strike the first chord.
At the Tom Ridge Pavilion, I was sitting dead center in the
middle of the hall, which has a higher ceiling than any symphony house I
have been in. Twenty-three long acoustical panels, positioned in the ceiling
facing the orchestra, reflected the sound back into the hall. The sliding
doors of the fourth wall were pulled back into the framework of the building
for the benefit of the groundlings outside. I wondered if the opening of
the wall would swallow up the sound and render it bland and colorless.
It did nothing of the kind.
As the orchestra began the first bars of the Mozart piece,
“L’amero saro constante” from his opera “Il Re Paatore,” I knew that the
hall had arrived and that its union with the Pittsburgh Symphony would be
a happy one.
The allegros were bright, the andantes warm and the vivace
assais brilliant. I easily heard every syllable of the soprano, Arianna Zuckerman,
and the arpeggios of the marvelous pianist, Jonathan Biss, who played the
Concerto No. 21 in C Major.
Conductor Pinchas Zucherman held firm reins on the orchestral
powerhouse and knew when to let it loose. When he did, the music exploded
around me, enveloping me.
Just to play it safe, I moved to the far extreme of the house
after the intermission, and the effect was no different.
Another experienced concert-goer found the sound comparable
to other major halls, but felt the orchestra’s reeds were somewhat lacking
in volume. By comparison, we learned that the orchestra’s strings and piano
were electronically amplified for this debut performance.
Don’t go to the Tom Ridge Pavilion anticipating the gilt and
chandeliers of indoor halls. The interior is for listening, not for looking.
Done in a matte blue, the shed is reminiscent of a school gymnasium, with
large air ventilation tubes hovering overhead giving a somewhat industrial
appearance.
Approaching the pavilion on the newly paved approach road,
a good deal of last-minute work was apparent. Parking attendants provided direction
on arrival, but the post-performance exodus was not as well planned.
The first sight of the pavilion is actually its back side,
a huge mound created to form the outdoor lawn amphitheater. Grounds adjoining
the walkways were newly seeded, covered in straw.
Inside, the creature comforts are well appointed, with roomy
orchestra seating and carpeted box seating with luxurious swiveling armchairs.
Food and beverages are available during intermission. Bottled water went
at $2.50 and a 16-ounce serving of draft beer sold for $5.00.
The large house, which seats 10,000, (2,500 under cover, 7,500
on the lawn), was a little over half full with a small but happy contingent
sitting in the open air outside, beyond the open rear wall. Being a performer
myself, I know how next to impossible it is to get a big crowd out on a Friday
night.
The audiences will have to be more aware of symphony hall
conventionalities and not applaud at the end of each movement of a concerto
or symphony. The piece is not yet finished and the applause could distract
the continuity of the musicians’ concentration. But this was excusable on
account of the audience’s enthusiasm.
The main gala opening on Saturday night, August 9, featured
a champagne reception and a concert of American music, again with the Pittsburgh,
followed by a dinner-dance.
The gala weekend was completed Sunday with a jazz brunch at
11:30 a.m. in the Boathouse, followed by a third performance of the music
of Lerner and Lowe by the Pittsburgh under the baton of Marvin Hamlisch at
2:00 p.m. at the Ridge Pavilion
Mountain Laurel President and CEO Joseph Blaney commended
the audience before the concert on Friday evening. “There will be thousands
of evenings of music at this concert hall over coming years, but there is
only one opening night,” he said. “You are here and I am here and they are
here—the world famous Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.” The audience exploded
with enthusiasm and recognition.
It was a resonant moment. Here, in the woods of Pennsylvania,
surrounded by lakes, trees, animals and critters of all kinds who were probably
within hearing distance, was a venue for great music comparable to any place
in the country and maybe the world.
Tickets for performances may be purchased at Ticketmaster
outlets or charged by phone at 570/643-4100 or on-line at ticketmaster.com.
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