Benedetti soars in parts, underwhelms in others

With the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. Conducted by Bramwell Tovey. At the Orpheum Theatre on October 28

Concertgoers who reported to the Orpheum on Saturday night were greeted by a sign informing them that parts of the evening were being recorded for television; by attending, they were tacitly agreeing to appear on the boob tube at some later date.

The logical explanation for this was that it had something to do with the VSO’s headliner: Nicola Benedetti, the 19-year-old violinist whose comely visage graced the cover of the Straight last week, and who was there to perform Aleksandr Glazunov’s Violin Concerto in A minor, Op. 82. But after oompahing through Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty: Waltz, Bramwell Tovey announced that Elaine Brown, a grandmother who had never sung solo in front of an audience before, would be performing an aria from Adriana Lecouvreur by Francesco Cilea. No explanation was forthcoming; Tovey said he was sworn to secrecy but all would become clear in a few months’ time.

Out trotted Brown in a tight-fitting black lace gown, launching into her solo with gusto, sounding like a seasoned pro with a good vibrato, solid intonation, and passable tone. One could only guess that she was the winner of season two of Bathroom Divas—a reality show for opera-singing wannabes.

Brown disappeared as quickly as she had appeared, and the VSO was back to its regular programming: a wade through the schmaltz of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet: Overture and Fantasy, followed by Benedetti’s highly anticipated performance. The hall hummed with expectation when the teen strode on-stage in a clinging white satin floor-length gown, placed her Stradivarius under her chin, and sailed into the demanding Glazunov concerto.

With her focused, determined playing and statuesque presence, Benedetti certainly is easy on the ears and eyes. But it is also clear that, despite her obvious gifts, she has a ways to mature. Her delivery of the piece seemed unrefined at times, and her intonation during the most challenging presto passages was iffy, although she nailed the cadenza in the second movement, displaying a thoughtful phrasing and careful musicality. Given the international buzz she’s created, it was all a little underwhelming.

The audience was slow to give a standing ovation, and seemed guilted into it when Benedetti returned for a third curtain call, despite the applause having virtually died. In fact, listeners seemed less enthralled by this fetching Scottish lass than it had been by the unknown, middle-aged Brown. And it was the bombastic mania of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, which ended the night following Aleksandr Borodin’s Prince Igor: Polovtsian Dances, that brought out the truly heartfelt whoops from the crowd.