Alexander Shelley and Pacific Symphony Reignite Beethoven's Fifth
- Timothy Mangan
- 21 minutes ago
- 4 min read
REVIEW: The orchestra’s music director-designate made the old seem new, leading accomplished performances.
It’s early yet, but one thing we feel certain about with Alexander Shelley, the new music director of the Pacific Symphony, is that he conducts the standard repertoire, which is to say the old-time classics, like nobody’s business.
In his debut as the music director designate, Thursday night in Segerstrom Concert Hall, it was Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. In his public audition for the job, in late 2023, it was Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony. The musical qualities of his approach were no less evident in the two standard concertos he has conducted here. There is no routine in Shelley when it comes to the classics, there is no phoning it in.
There is polish and pizazz. There is energy and certainty. There is the need to get his ideas across (you can hear it), and the ability to accomplish it.
This is tremendously good news, because any music director of an orchestra such as the Pacific Symphony, playing for a suburban clientele, will by necessity spend a fair amount of time conducting the classics. Shelley appears to be a man we can rely upon to do it well, and then some.
Alexander Shelly conducts the Pacific Symphony. Photos courtesy of Pacific Symphony/Doug Gifford
Thursday’s Fifth (scheduled for repeat Friday and Saturday) sounded as fresh and intense as just about any we can remember. The performance was on the brisk side, and suitably rugged, but never merely so. Shelley also uncovered a myriad of detail, in articulation, in orchestration, in dynamics. In the first movement, the French horns inserted sizzling stopped notes here and there, accents reminiscent of the natural horns Beethoven would have used.
At one point in the Adagio, the strings have a lovely wavering figure and the woodwinds add single notes as decoration — little, cottony puffs of air in Shelley’s hands. The trio of the scherzo went like gangbusters, no slowing down for the basses, but rather a whipping effect.
Few people ever remark upon Beethoven’s skills in orchestration, but Shelley revealed him as a master.
All the while, the musicians of the Pacific Symphony played as if they meant it. Their enthusiasm was palpable, but it was also nicely controlled. Instrumental balances favored the strings slightly, but one could always hear what the woodwinds and brass were up to, a poised equanimity. And through all the fortissimo outbursts, there was never any stridency.
In short, Shelley is showing himself to be something of a technician of the orchestra.
The concert opened with Tan Dun’s “Jubilation,” a mere three-minute outburst of revving rhythms, glittery fanfares and explosive punctuations, complete with shouts and “ohs” and “aahs” from the Southern California Children’s Chorus.
Another Beethoven’s Fifth, the Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor,” followed, with the American pianist George Li as soloist. Silver medalist at the 2015 Tchaikovsky Competition and recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant, Li proved a confident and thoughtful exponent of the “Emperor.”
His prodigious technique and full, ringing tone brought satisfying thrills to Beethoven’s virtuoso flourishes. His hard-working fingers dug firmly into the keyboard, clarifying and crafting phrases as needed. At the same time, he was smart enough to trust the music and rode Beethoven’s waves rather than making them himself. The performance moved along with equal parts concentration and flow.
Shelly and the orchestra collaborated with sensitivity and snap, partners not hosts. One particular beauty: their opening of the slow movement, sculpted, nuanced and glowing.
Li’s encore was Liszt’s “La campanella,” which he played with blazing dazzlement.
Shelley offered Iman Habibi’s brief Jeder Baum spricht (“Every Tree Speaks”), written for the 250th birthday of Beethoven in 2020, as prelude to the Fifth Symphony. It is dramatic, jagged and athletic in nature, then atmospheric and even a little folksy. Shelley surprised by beginning the Fifth immediately after the last note of it, literally without missing a beat.
Adding to his virtues, Shelley revealed himself to be an articulate and affable public speaker on Thursday, introducing both halves from the podium. Comfortable, too. When he dropped his baton and it nearly hit someone in the first row, he bent down, asked if they were OK, joked about the danger of the stick, then carried on with his talk unflustered.
He’ll be back in four programs next season, still as music director designate, before officially taking the wheel in the 2026-27 season. His programs will include Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Scheherazade,” Ravel’s complete “Daphnis and Chloe,” and Stravinsky’s complete “Firebird,” among others, all pretty well-travelled pieces but no doubt good to hear again under Shelley’s new and sharp baton.
Shelley Conducts Beethoven’s Fifth and the Emperor Concerto
ARTISTS
Alexander Shelley, conductor
George Li, piano
Southern California Children’s Chorus
Pacific Symphony
PROGRAM
Tan Dun: Jubilation
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 5, “Emperor”
Iman Habibi: Jeder Baum spricht
Beethoven: Symphony No. 5
When: 8 p.m. May 2-3
Where: Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall, 600 Town Center Dr, Costa Mesa
Cost: Remaining seats available between $33 - $248
Contact: pacificsymphony.org
Classical music coverage at Culture OC is supported in part by a grant from the Rubin Institute for Music Criticism. Culture OC makes all editorial decisions.
