‘Carmina’ performance thrilling

Even a dead swan sounds good from the stage of the newly restored Carpenter Theatre.

Of course, we’re talking about the dead-swan song in Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana,“ sung thrillingly Saturday night by tenor Marcus Shelton. Alastair Willis conducted the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, the Children’s Festival Chorus and visiting soloists. Erin Freeman and Jay BeVille had rehearsed the adult and children’s choruses, respectively.

The text of “Carmina Burana” is taken from a medieval collection of poems by wandering, ale-soaked scholars. Many deal with love and sexual desire, drinking and gambling, and above all, man’s helplessness in the hands of fate. In 1935, Orff set 24 of the poems to music.

And highly dramatic music it is, too. A live performance is a treat that can’t be matched by the best recording, something the 1,700 or so people in attendance realized.

Energy built throughout the hourlong piece, with the orchestra and chorus hitting their stride in “Veni, Veni Venias,“ a song meant to flatter a woman straight into the haystack.

Soprano Anya Matanovic sang as the maiden who wavers for several poems between “lascivious love and modesty” and ultimately yields, gorgeously, in the solo “Dulcissime.“

The baritone has most of the solo work in “Carmina Burana,“ and Richard Zeller demonstrates a magnificent range of dramatic effects. His romantic rubato, sneering self-mockery and decadent pomposity emphasize the emotional involvement “Carmina Burana” demands of its audience.

Willis, the seventh of nine music director candidates, conducts economically, with a subtly expressive left hand and full-body language that communicates intent without being distracting.

However, his tempos at times were slower than desirable. For example, in a song about putting on rouge to attract young men’s attention, what should have been a flirty, musical toss-of-the-head in the flute was a mite sluggish to convey that effect.

The orchestra and adult chorus sometimes had trouble building dramatic tension and forward momentum, particularly in the familiar opening section, “O Fortuna.“ This was a factor of tempo and of dynamic contrast. It may take a few more performances with a full house to perfect the pianissimos and fortissimos.

On the whole, though, the acoustics in the new hall are promising.

The evening began with the sensual Bacchanale from “Samson and Delilah” by Saint-Saëns and Brahms’ “Variations on a Theme by Haydn.“ Willis conducted both without a score, which intensified the feeling of magical intimacy in the hall.

If Richmond loves its orchestra all season as much as it did for this opening concert of the Masterworks series, Fortune’s wheel is turning in the symphony’s favor.