May 12, 2001

Two Takes on Beethoven's Ninth
by Albert H. Cohen

Restraint was a key difference in two performances of Beethoven's mighty Ninth Symphony ("Ode to Joy" choral) heard in the past three weeks. The Rutgers University Orchestra played it on their visit to Lincoln Center April 18, while The St. Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra did so May 12 at Carnegie Hall.

The contrasts between the performances were stark in many ways, but nowhere more so than in the approach of the two conductors.

Richard Auldon Clark, 37, led the Rutgers students and professionals (yes, the orchestra was salted with pros, such as Paul Harris, principal bass of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra) in his first Ninth, while David Randolph, 86, led his 140-voice chorus (as he has for 35 years), plus a pick-up orchestra in his version.

Clark was absurdly dramatic on the podium with an unfortunate effect on his players. Exaggerated movements of his body and baton led to a severe musical distortion in the symphony's first movement.

Randolph, who conducts without a baton, understood the need to keep something in reserve for the long fortissimo section of the movement's development. He was thus able to build to that vital moment and give this music the right proportions and extra loudness and impact it needed. And he did so with a minimum of arm movements and no baton histrionics.

After 35 years of refinement, Randolph's singers delivered so much more in terms of choral sound qualities than the students of Rutgers, though.

This fine group (The St. Cecilia Chorus) made the point eloquently in the evening's opening work, a rarity: "The Music Makers", by Elgar. It is based on a wonderful poem by Arthur O'Shaughnessy.

The music borrows from the composer's magnum opus, the "Enigma" Variations, lending an evocative, familiar flavor to an intensely romantic and moving piece.

Here, Randolph's unmatched skills in preparing a chorus led The St. Cecilia Chorus to produce some of the most gorgeous tones I've ever heard.