Texan Symphonic Splendor

In its day, an ongoing legacy 107 years old and counting, CAMA has done a heroic job of ushering renowned orchestras from around the world through Santa Barbara in its “International Series” of concerts. And the organization has also taken care to showcase the “national” part of the equation, in terms of American orchestras deemed worthy of global status. The list includes the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony (last here in January), and annual visits from the Los Angeles Philharmonic, whose standing has risen dramatically in the past 25 years.

On Wednesday, the current CAMA season closes with another American beauty, off to the side of the upper echelon but a well-respected group well worth a listen, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO). The DSO last performed here in 1973, with a program of Mendelssohn, Poulenc, and Rimsky-Korsakov. Fast forward 52 years, and the program is a double-headliner of Schumann’s Piano Concerto — with Santa Ynez’s world-famous pianist Hélène Grimaud as soloist — and the post-intermission feast of Mahler’s relatively sunny Symphony No. 4, featuring soprano soloist Sofia Fomina.

Grimaud, an animal activist with a particular passion for preservation and respect for wolves, along with her prowess in the classical world, is a Santa Barbara favorite. Her past performances in her adopted county have included recitals and concerto work with touring orchestras, including the Santa Barbara Symphony. Among other specialties, she has been noted for her sensitivity to Schumann’s music: Listen to her here, playing the Schumann concerto with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (another orchestra with the acronym DSO).

With roots dating back to 1900, the DSO (Dallas Symphony) has enjoyed an illustrious history and the guidance of major conductors, beginning with Antal Doráti in 1945. Interruptions in service occurred during the World Wars and in the ‘70s. But highlights of the ensemble’s history include a premiere of Miklós Rózsa’s Violin Concerto by Jascha Heifetz, and podium tenures by Andrew Litton and, through 2018, Jaap van Zweden — later the New York Phil maestro, for a New York minute. One point of distinction in the orchestra’s sizable discography is its focus on and championing of music by the American maverick Charles Ives, still deserving more love in his homeland.

Next in line at the helm of the DSO was Grammy-winning Italian conductor Fabio Luisi, the current music director as of 2000, who will lead the charge at the Granada. Currently also the music director of the esteemed Danish National Symphony and Japan’s NHK Orchestra, Luisi boasts a résumé that includes stints with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Metropolitan Opera. 

One of the major projects on the DSO plate at the moment is a recording of Wagner’s epic The Ring Cycle, something of a rite of passage for opera companies and orchestras, as well. 

On Wednesday, Luisi and his DSO comrades will show their wares on Schumann and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony, more compact and bright-spirited than others in his symphonic canon and topped off with the song Das himmlische Leben (The Heavenly Life), as sung here by Fomina. Premiered in 1901 and roundly panned at the time, its fortunes and public opinion have shifted, and the Fourth has grown into a widely popular and more accessible Mahler outing.

For more information, see camasb.org