MUSIC REVIEW : SummerPops’ Exit Is Delightfully Highbrow

Although it’s not customary to end the San Diego Symphony’s SummerPops season with a whimper, this year’s bang was the most highbrow finale to date. Guest conductor Murry Sidlin’s all-Beethoven blockbuster Friday night was not the usual potpourri of overtures and toe-tapping excerpts, but a lofty pairing of the First and Ninth symphonies. Everyone donned formal black attire instead of the usual pops white dinner jackets, a sure sign of serious intentions.

In less confident hands, however, this double-barreled symphonic salvo could have easily misfired, straining the attention of the typical pops audience. But Sidlin successfully communicated his intense conviction for these symphonies with polished, clever verbal introductions and vibrant musical interpretations. As familiar as these symphonies are, Sidlin and the orchestra made them sound fresh, unburdened by any sense of stuffy homage due to enshrined masterpieces.

The First Symphony appropriately sported courtly musical manners a la Haydn juxtaposed with Beethoven’s own revolutionary impulses. Sidlin’s refined baton technique combined precision and ardor to great advantage. The orchestra responded with elegant, articulate phrasing and a solid ensemble several notches above the customary pops standard.

Sidlin may have indulged in a bit of hyperbole when he equated the composition of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the discovery of electricity or nuclear fission, but there was nothing extreme about his account of the giant opus. Rather, it was one of unusual clarity, solid declamation and generous attention to the work’s more reflective moments, a daring approach considering the sonic distractions coming from the adjacent Convention Center’s rooftop rock concert. He wisely saved the Ninth’s unrestrained exultation until the very end, keeping the fourth movement’s proportions gracefully intact.

Equal to the orchestra’s polish was the San Diego Master Chorale’s dependable discipline and well-focused fervor. The Master Chorale, trained by Frank Almond, surmounted the composer’s ungrateful vocal demands with a robust and unforced ensemble.

Bass Peter Van Derick handled his introductory solo with uncommon aplomb, projecting both grandeur and lyricism. And his diction was faultless. Tenor William Brown’s rich color was appealing, but he tended to lag behind the pulse. Soprano Jan Juline Leeds and mezzo-soprano Christine Meadows fulfilled their modest roles with vigor and bright colors, although the unnaturally loud amplification of the vocal soloists undermines such observations.

For the rest of the evening, however, the wizards at the electronic mixer boards did a sensitive job of simulating concert hall proportions.

Just above 2,800 attended the performance at Embarcadero Marina Park South.