Weber – Euryanthe Overture
Hindemith – Symphony, Mathis der Maler
Strauss – Also sprach Zarathustra, Op.30
One of the oldest orchestras in the world, the great
Dresden Staatskapelle are at the very top of any one’s list of
the world’s finest orchestras. An instrument, as opposed to a conventional
symphony orchestra, they have a truly unique sound – opulent, blended,
sumptuous – indeed, a myriad of adjectives could be used to describe
this very special band. Sinopoli (still listed in the programme booklet
as the orchestra’s chief conductor, although with the date of his death
added) left them in remarkable shape – and left them with a string section
unmatched anywhere. The NDR Symphony Orchestra may have brought even
greater depth of tone in a remarkable Barbican concert last
year under Eschenbach, but what the Dresdeners have is an astonishing
ear for what they play. It is symptomatic of an orchestra well heeled
in opera performance, where the players are compelled to listen to each
other. This is an orchestra full of soloists, each with a human voice
capable of individual tone. Playing together, they have a magnetic beauty
you simply won’t experience with any other orchestra. As Richard Wagner
once said of them, ‘they are a miraculous harp’.
This carefully designed programme highlighted three
composers with whom this orchestra has close connections. Weber was
once the orchestra’s chief conductor (followed by Wagner, who arranged
for the return of Weber’s bones to Germany), and Hindemith had many
works premiered by the orchestra (although not the Mathis der Maler
Symphony which was first heard under Furtwängler and the Berlin
Philharmonic). Strauss had a sixty-year relationship with the orchestra
during which period nine of his operas were premiered in Dresden by
the orchestra.
To each of the pieces showcased the orchestra brought
a special authority. The opening Weber overture brought magnificent
playing, especially from the horns who, throughout this concert, were
exemplary in tone and phrasing. Their sound was golden with breath control
of frightening perfection. The timpani were as well balanced as you
could wish for and the performance did not lack panache, with resplendent
string’s mahogany in their colouring. The Jubel Overture, which
the Dresdeners played as an encore, was equally finely wrought, although
it is arguable that Ion Marin perhaps made the tuttis heavier
than they might normally sound, although there was a genuine clarity
to the phrasing which a lesser orchestra might not easily have masked.
The Mathis der Maler was both highly dramatic
and tense, with vivid coloration giving unusual beauty to a work which
can occasionally seem bloated and characterless. If the opening movement
seems more akin to biblical film music (which in part it is) the work
projects a typically symphonic argument between good and evil. In part
this is because of the tonal tension, but it also requires a rather
fine orchestra to navigate the lucid and transparent textures, and here
it was perfectly done. The final movement showed this great orchestra
at its collective best – the timpani were thrilling, the strings just
rhetorical enough without sounding precious, the triplets played with
brilliance, the brass and woodwind bleating with a creeping accelerando.
Strauss’ great tone poem is becoming increasingly difficult
to bring off in live concert, and mostly this is due to a lack of good
Strauss interpreters. Indeed, Ion Marin does not strike me as a natural
Straussian, and although the orchestra were fabulous throughout this
work (some momentary intonation problems on the trumpets apart) it is
not the performance I quite expected. Marin’s rubato slipped unerringly
towards extremes – from a self-consciously slow opening to a hysterical,
almost overflowing ‘Of Joys and Passion’. There were many beautiful
things – an exquisite solo from the leader, Matthias Wollong, and an
incandescently phrased cello solo from Friedwart-Christian Dittman,
to mention two outstanding individual performances. There were some
extraordinary dynamic moments, too – not least an astonishing double
bass pizzicato which, despite its pianissimo marking, somehow enveloped
the Barbican. An amazing moment.
Wonderful playing made this a memorable concert. I
hope Haitink, who takes over in mid-2002, will bring them to our shores
more often. Nothing in this country remotely equals them.
Marc Bridle
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