MUSIC REVIEW : Talmi Leads Uninspiring Brahms Program

Though orchestral transcriptions were once dismissed as second-class compositions, such outright snobbery is hard to justify. For every grotesque transmogrification such as Leopold Stokowski’s transcription of J. S. Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, there is a brilliant transformation such as Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition.”

Thursday at Copley Symphony Hall, San Diego Symphony music director Yoav Talmi offered an entire program of Brahms transcriptions. (The orchestra’s next compact disc, which is being recorded this weekend for Pro Arte Records, will contain the three unusual Brahms’ works.) Of the three transcriptions, including one by Talmi himself, none descended to the depths of Stokowski. Nor did any aspire to the heights of Ravel.

Dvorak’s idiomatic transcription of the Five Hungarian Dances (No. 17-21) made the strongest impression. Like Dvorak’s own Slavonic Dances, the colorful orchestration enlivened these five short Gypsy dances considerably. No doubt they will make sprightly encores at many a summer pops concert.

For the sake of comparison, Talmi and symphony resident pianist Mary Barranger played Brahms’ original piano four-hand version of the Five Hungarian Dances before the orchestra played Dvorak’s transcription. The improvement over the stodgy four-hand piano version was evident from the opening measures.

The Four Serious Songs, orchestrated by Erich Leinsdorf, made the transition from piano-accompanied lieder to orchestral lieder cycle gracefully, although the set pales in comparison to Richard Strauss’ glorious farewell cycle, The Four Last Songs. As soloist, baritone Kevin McMillan chose an aptly earnest but overly deliberate approach to his task. His precisely articulated German pronunciation verged on mannerism.

The desolation of the first three songs eluded him, and for the more uplifting text of the final song he gave the impression of a smug church soloist. McMillan’s pleasant, burnished upper range proved his strong suit, but he tended to swallow his lowest notes.

Talmi opened the program with his transcription for string orchestra of the Sextet in B-flat Major, Op. 18. Under his sympathetic direction, it proved an elegant showpiece for the symphony strings. But this early Brahms opus hardly cries out for an orchestral version. Brahms’ two Serenades fill this niche quite adequately.