Saturday’s inaugural concert at the Jacobs Music Center downtown had plenty of star power. Actor BD Wong hosted. Cellist Alisa Weilerstein played Tchaikovsky, pianist Inon Barnatan performed Rachmaninoff, and soprano Hera Hyesang Park sang Rossini and Villa-Lobos, all vitally accompanied by the San Diego Symphony and Music Director Rafael Payare.
But the real triumph of the evening was the newly renovated Jacobs Music Center’s warm, generous acoustics. Strings have a luster not encountered before in the old venue. There is a short, sweet presence to chords after cut-off, a brief afterglow that does not overstay its welcome.
In the past fortissimos could turn to mud, an unfocused din. But in the Symphony’s remodeled home, there is striking clarity in the loudest passages.
I sat in the main floor seating area six rows from the stage. Previously that would have meant that brass and winds would overpower the strings, but now balances are effective and musical. Seats on the floor level now sound as well, if not better, than the coveted Grand Tier in the formerly named Copley Symphony Hall. Over the past three years the hall has undergone a $125 million-plus renovation.
Kudos to acoustician Paul Scarbrough of Akustiks, the architects at HGA, and theater planner Schuler Shook for giving the San Diego Symphony the warm venue it so richly deserved.
The program was designed to highlight a variety of musical textures, from solo violin to full orchestra. It began with the world premiere of “Welcome Home!!,” a fanfare by SDSU composer Texu Kim for brass and percussion.
One of the hall’s new features is terraced seating behind the orchestra to accommodate a chorus. The brass players spread out across the terrace above the timpanist and three percussionists. “Welcome Home!!” was a spirited piece with driving rhythms and plenty of Latin American percussion. It gave each of the brass players a chance to solo, as well as showcasing their disciplined ensemble work.
Next, eight cellos took the main stage to encircle Hera Hyesang Park for a sensuous rendition of the Aria from “Bachianas brasileiras No. 5” by Villa-Lobos. I recall hearing this on the old stage years ago, and Saturday’s performance positively glowed by comparison, bolstered by the new warm acoustics. Park sang with a sweet, tightly focused tone.
A chamber orchestra convened on stage and Park returned for “Una Voce Poco Fa” from Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville.” This required more emotional range from Park, which she easily supplied, with Payare and the musicians effervescently accompanying. In her lower register, she was occasionally covered by the orchestra in loud passages, but this was the only balance difficulty I heard in the entire concert.
One of the benefits of having Payare as the symphony’s music director is that we frequently get to hear his wife, Alisa Weilerstein, one of the most gifted cellists of her generation. Weilerstein, Payare, and the Symphony gave a graceful performance of the Tchaikovsky “Variations on a Rococo Theme” 5 years ago, but as delightful as that was, it couldn’t compare with the clarity and luster that the new hall provided on Saturday.
Concertmaster Jeff Thayer appeared in the house on the highest level to play Paganini’s Caprice no 24 in A minor. It was flawlessly executed by Thayer, every note distinctly heard from my ground floor seat. This led in nicely to Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Payare bringing in the full San Diego Symphony in time to the closing measures of Thayer’s virtuosic performance. Inon Barnatan was the soloist, whose clear articulations and sensitive phrasing played off the Symphony’s more measured but passionate accompaniment.
The evening ended with Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé” Suite no. 2, which has become a Payare specialty. Its sonic sunrise is one of the most loved in all of classical music, a conspicuous symbol for a promising dawn as the San Diego Symphony assumes its new residence. The quiet musical rustlings of birds, forest animals, and gentle breezes through trees were rudely interrupted by a loud, upward sweeping “BEEEEYOOOOOP” reminiscent of a car alarm. The house lights came up and fire alarm lights coruscated through the venue, but Payare and company kept playing.
The alarm was quickly dispelled, and we were returned to Ravel’s luscious harmonies and alluring melodies.
Compared to the flat sound of the old venue, the acoustic richness and the amazing clarity in loud passages was startling. Its sumptuousness induced goosebumps, a happy symptom I have not experienced in the hall at Seventh Avenue and B Street in a long time.
When I first moved to San Diego in 1985, I attended concerts conducted by David Atherton and composer-in-residence Bernard Rands for the Symphony’s first season in the hall that was originally known as the Fox Theater. At the time, i was genuinely impressed with the San Diego Symphony, which had no reputation in the Midwest and East Coast from whence I came. I had to wait until Payare’s appointment as music director in 2019 to hear playing that surpassed the Atherton years.
Now, almost 40 years later with their new hall, San Diego Symphony finally has a San Diego venue that permits it to sound like the world-class orchestra they’ve been since Payare took over. What a grandly thrilling, promising way to usher in the new season.
Hertzog is a freelance writer.
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