CBSO at Symphony Hall  April 12 2012                                       Edward Gardner    

This post-Easter presentation of Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, repeated at the Barbican two days later, was always going to be special, and so it turned out, if not for the reasons previously envisaged.

It was to have been Andris Nelsons’ first-ever ‘Gerontius’, and his entry into the gallery of CBSO principal conductors who have directed the work before him. But family priorities, with the sickness of his infant daughter, quite rightly took sway, and he reluctantly decided to withdraw.

As the luck of scheduling diaries would have it, principal guest
conductor Edward Gardner was free to step into the breach, and what a
memorable job he made of it, this only his own second ‘Gerontius’.

Gardner’s other hat as music director of English National Opera stood
him in good stead here, bringing an instinctive sense of drama and
pacing. On Good Friday the Mariinsky Theatre’s Parsifal had brought
Gerontius to mind; here it was the other way round.

Gardner’s tempi, flowing effortlessly between sections, were bravely
broad, not sanctimoniously so as in the case of ancient interpreters,
but clearly envisioned, aware of their goals. Within these lavish
paragraphs he was able to summon so much detail, whether from the
perennially remarkable CBSO Chorus (and how fresh and youthful they
sounded where necessary!) or from the responsive and supple orchestra
itself.

There were two incidents I’d never noticed before in five decades of
loving the work, but Gardner’s acuity brought them out: the suspenseful
timpani roll over a prolonged organ pedal at the end of Praise to the
Holiest, and the shriek from piccolos and other woodwind as the Soul
of Gerontius glimpses the searing perfection of God for the minutest
instant before gladly consigning himself to Purgatory.

Two of the three soloists were disappointing: tenor Robert Murray, a
late replacement for the indisposed Toby Spence, delivered beautiful
vocal tone and intelligence of diction, but little of the anguished
message of Cardinal Newman’s text; Sarah Connolly’s Angel, somewhat
harsh of timbre, began with a quiet radiance but later failed to
console; but James Rutherford was in his customary commanding,
authoritative form as the Priest despatching Gerontius into the
afterworld, and as the awesome Angel of the Agony interceding for him
as judgement approaches.

The night belonged to the CBSO, its Chorus and Gardner, and an amazing
minute-plus of silence followed the performance. That must have sent
the live BBC broadcasters into their own personal little purgatory,
until the applause at last erupted.

CM

Birmingham Symphony Hall, 6 April 2012

During the Prelude to Act 1 I found myself wondering whether Wagner would ever have covered in the pit at Bayreuth if he had experienced his scores with the immaculate clarity which comes from the Birmingham acoustic. The piercing intensity of the first trumpet line, so beautifully mirrored in the closing bars, some five and a half hours later, was, by this time mellowed and refined – a sensitivity which, from my experience, Bayreuth cannot match.

With an opening as good as this we were obviously in for something special and Valery Gergiev did not disappoint – though after the Cardiff Ring I have to admit to some hesitancy about his approach. The orchestra was the key to this interpretation, with extended paragraphs of the score opening seamlessly before us, never drowning out the singers, yet able to extend the dynamic range from the point of near inaudibility to shattering climaxes. There is nothing sentimental about the reading either. The second act opened with a furious intensity which arched over to the point where Kundry cursed Parsifal to wander forever. By contrast the Flower Maidens waltz seemed almost Straussian, an unexpected thought which linked in with the Good Friday music, where Gergiev also brought out the dancelike quality.

If the work can too often seem a piece for older singers, this was not the case with the Mariinsky soloists. Yury Vorobiev and Yevgeny Nikitin, as Gurnemanz and Amfortas respectively, brought fresh virile projection and a more youthful characterisation to both parts. Their genuine bass voices easily carried across the orchestra and their diction was exemplary. Larisa Gogolevskaya made an impassioned Kundry, again with weight at the bottom of the voice but still able to match the high tessitura for Act Two. Only August Amonov, as Parsifal, failed to reach this level of quality. Though the voice was certainly up the part there was little sense of intelligent involvement with the character and the quality of diction often left something to be desired.

The chorus produced an authority and precision which belied their small number, and Ex Cathedra proved to be an unexpected bonus for the off-stage chorus. It is unusual to be able to pick out the solo flower maidens but here their position as soloists on stage drew attention not only to the quality of voices but the individuality of the writing, which is too often lost in production. I also can’t recall ever hearing the harp as clearly during the Flower Maidens chorus!

If it is always a difficult choice between Wagner and Bach at Easter, Wagner certainly won this year – and we still have Die Walkure to come. BH

Wilton’s Music Hall, 2 February 2012

There were times when the intensity of this evening given by Lontano at Wilton’s was almost too close for comfort but there is something about the intimacy of the building which encourages an unusually intense rapport between artist and performer.

The placement of the opening Trio by Libby Larsen was disconcerting. The flute, harp and violin sat under the balcony on the right hand side and were thus invisible to most of the audience on the unraised floor. The four movements develop with a post-Debussyan impressionistic wash which is often melancholic but charms the ear throughout. In the final movement the harpist is required to thrash her instrument to the point where I was wondering how it remained in tune.

Annea Lockwood’s Monkey Trips was simply confusing, and not even pleasantly so. Part improvised by six instrumentalists, it claimed to be based on the Tibetan Buddhist metaphor of the six states of being. I regret I could not follow this. I was only aware of highly professional instrumentalists wandering around the stage making fools of themselves. When they went of laughing loudly I wondered if it was us they were laughing at for sitting through it in silence.

The main work of the evening was the first performance of Nicola LeFanu’s chamber opera Dream Hunter. The piece suited the venue with its intimate relationships slowly unfolding before us. Catarina is a Dream Hunter, slowly realising she has her mother’s powers to see into the future. In this case she sees the death of her sister’s feckless fiancé.

The character’s are rapidly sketched for us without resorting to stereotypes, and John Fuller’s libretto is clear and clean, allowing us to follow not only the action but the nuances of character development. This is particularly important for Charmian Bedford’s Catarina who grows up before us without any uncomfortable changes of mannerisms. Her sister Angela is far more practical in Caryl Hughes rendition, being the only one actually involved in work during the evening.

Brian Smith Walters’ Sampiero is well sung and creates for us a nasty, self-centred individual for whom we have little sympathy. His death, inevitable given the line of the narrative, comes with no emotional impact. It is little more than the earlier death of the wild boar. This is remarkably well handled both in the music and text.

Jeremy Huw Williams’ as the girls’ father seems to come from another place altogether with his bluff acquisitiveness and heavy drinking.

Odaline de la Martinez has worked with Nicola LeFanu many times before and it showed in the careful control she brought to the balance between instrumentalists and singers, and to the easy flow of the musical line throughout.

If the production under Carmen Jakobi did little to create a sense of the 19^th century Corsican setting, it did use the space well and provided just enough naturalism to convince us of the reality of both the characters and events.

The score of Dream Hunter is available from Edition Peters.

BH

Birmingham Symphony Hall, 3 March 2012

Not only was this Tristan part of the 21^st birthday celebrations for the Symphony Hall but is marked the start of a substantial international tour for the CBSO which includes concerts in Vienna and a repeat of this remarkable Tristan in Paris.

A straight-forward concert performance, rather than the semi-staged Wagner which we are becoming increasingly used to, this was music making of the highest quality. Stephen Gould is that rarity today, a helden-tenor who can not only sing the part with sensitivity and lyricism but who has the stamina to maintain a line as convincingly at the end of Act 3 as he did at the opening of Act 1. It is exceptional to hear Tristan’s death so positively structured by a voice that has no difficulty carrying across the weight of Wagner’s orchestration.

If Lioba Braun’s Isolde took a little time to warm up it was as if the love potion released an inner strength which carried her through the whole of Act 2. Christianne Stotijn’s warmly sung Brangane proved a very human foil to the steelier tones of Braun’s Isolde, and she impressed not only with the lyricism of her singing but the clarity she brought to the narrative.

If there are times when King Mark can seem long-winded this was certainly not one of those, with Matthew Best bringing nobility and authority to his characterisation, and a sense of pathos at the end which was very moving.

The men of the CBSO chorus added fire to the end of Act 1, stirred on by the passionate drive from Andris Nelsons. His approach seems to be based on a more visceral, if not violent, reading of the emotional tensions which are only finally released in the closing moments. Solo voices in the orchestra were all finely balanced, and the cellos and basses at the opening of Act 3 were magnificent. Off-stage forced were well placed without seeming to be over-clever in their acoustic.

This was the second Wagner performance of the season, and we still have Parsifal and Die Walkure to come!

BH

Redhill URC, 11 February, 2012

David Pipe is Assistant Director of Music at York Minster but returns regularly to his home town to play. An exceptionally full church provided evidence, were it needed, not only of his popularity but the continuing quality of his well planned concerts.

He opened with Widor’s Marche pontificale from the 1^st symphony, which sounded at times rather heavy, if only because the instrument itself is now somewhat slow to respond. Any concern was, however, quickly dealt with and the following Sonata by Schnizer showed that the organ responds well to a lighter touch and gentler registration.

Two Brahms’ choral preludes, which followed, were ideally suited to the voicing of this organ with a warmth and clarity evident throughout.

Bach’s F major Toccata, BWV540, was given without its fugue but coupled to Arvo Part’s Pari intervallo. While looking somewhat uncomfortable on paper this made an impressive combination, the fire of the Bach reflecting the cool response of the Part.

For Liszt’s Consolation No4 David could have used a registrant, given the large number of changes needed, but he handled the piece with style and no loss of musicality.

He has regularly ended with Lefebure-Wely and this time was no exception, even if it was the other Sortie – the one in B flat!

All of this was enthusiastically received as was Bach’s air on a g string as an encore. Redhill are lucky to have David Pipe as a regular visitor and obviously value his visits.

BH