Igor Stravinsky's wonderfully piquant arrangement of The Star-Spangled Banner set the tone Friday night for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra's first subscription series concert of the season. Everything that followed had an extra dash of spice, too.
The program, which repeats tonight at Strathmore and Sunday afternoon at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, didn't look exciting on paper, especially with the main item on the bill being Beethoven's ubiquitous Symphony No. 5. The other repertoire choices -- pieces by Heitor Villa-Lobos and George Gershwin -- looked better suited to another program entirely.
But, as things turned out, the mix worked, the music-making clicked. It was an upbeat night from the get-go.
The BSO, which has several new faces in its midst, sounded warmly expressive and, a few minor smudges aside, well-polished.
The Beethoven war horse, taken by music director Marin Alsop at a bracing pace, found the musicians digging in with considerable force. There was plenty of nuance, too, especially in the middle movements, which Alsop shaped with a keen concern for dynamic contrasts.
The first half of the evening featured two guest artists -- one was a familiar presence, stellar pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet; the other, the rising soprano Julia Bullock, in her BSO debut.
Gershwin's Concerto in F is perfectly suited to the ever-stylish Thibaudet. His performance Friday found his elegant tone and pearly technique perfectly matched by an instinctive flair for the work's jazzy language. His phrasing in the Adagio was exquisite, his romp through the finale infectiously kinetic.
Although balances weren't always ideal (the piano got swamped by orchestral enthusiasm several times), Alsop's attentive partnering and the ensemble's vibrant playing helped make this a refreshing account of an American masterwork.
A Brazilian masterwork, "Bachianas brasileiras" No. 5 by Villa-Lobos, scored for the inspired combination of soprano and eight cellos, could not have been a better vehicle for Bullock.
Her pure, radiant timbre and spontaneous phrasing brought out the subtle beauty of the first movement; in its famous humming passage, the soprano produced sublime expressiveness. The second movement's buoyant folk song found Bullock communicating the text with sensual charm. The BSO cellists did shining work throughout. Alsop again offered smooth support from the podium.
Bullock and Thibaudet stayed around to inaugurate a late-night series of lobby performances being tried out intermittently this season.
Bullock sang for about 30 minutes, offering delightfully phrased numbers associated with Josephine Baker; a wry group of Francis Poulenc songs; and hits from "West Side Story" and "Porgy and Bess." She was backed elegantly by Thibaudet (Alsop turned pages for him).
Too bad there was continual distraction during the mini-concert. The din from a party in the patron's lounge on the mezzanine -- a party that should never have been scheduled for that time -- competed terribly with the music. Various attempts to ask for quiet (Thibaudet pounded on the keys at one point trying to get the revelers' attention) proved unsuccessful.
I was disheartened to discover that several BSO players were at the party. If, somehow, they didn't realize they were helping to mar a delectable performance by two wonderful musicians, they do now.