Winning
the 2004 Grawemeyer Award has certainly helped
put Korean composer Unsuk Chin on the musical
map (apparently she has enough commissions
to keep her busy all the way up to 2011!)
Chin won the prize for her Violin Concerto,
and here it received its UK première
– the soloist was the violinist who created
the part, giving the world premiere in Berlin
in January 2002, Viviane Hagner.
Chin
is a composer with an acute ear and, possibly
more importantly, she is utterly uncompromising
about preserving the integrity of her musical
thought. Perhaps this comes as a result of
her studies, in Hamburg, with Ligeti (himself
a composer who has a certain resolute uniqueness
about him). Part of being uncompromising is
obviously not scaling down difficulties for
the soloist, and indeed the solo part bristles
with challenges, all met supremely on this
occasion by Hagner.
In her
pre-concert discussion, Chin said, ‘My music
is a reflection of my dreams’ … if that sounds
a bit Takemitsuesque, then perhaps that is
not a million miles from the truth. Yet –
and it is a big ‘yet’ - there is more grit
in Chin’s writing, more of a challenge to
both performer and listener, and it is this
that makes the experience of her music so
exciting.
The
open-string, ruminative opening on one level
immediately recalls the Berg concerto. Yet
this is more sensuous (the solo line is set
against a bed of xylophones). The extensive
percussion section throughout is important
for its role as anchor to the violin’s flights
of fantasy. The accompanied cadenza of this
first of the four movements (the concert follows
the four-movement symphonic model) is magnificent
in its halting steps to ‘find itself’ and
its sheer breadth of vision. As if to prove
it was an integral part of the structure,
the orchestra responds immediately with its
own cadenza (just the sort of thing the BBCSO
thrives upon).
Textures
in the second movement turn more explicitly
towards late Debussy and indeed Boulez. In
this movement, Hagner’s tone was utterly beautiful,
whether it be her sonorous low register or
her sweet-toned high one. The emphasis on
hypnotic beauty in this movement will remain
long in the memory.
A brief,
glittering Scherzo that also includes shades
of darkness within its dynamic orbit led to
a finale that brought back elements of the
previous three movements and culminated in
a raw ‘shout’ for orchestra. The dedication
of soloist and orchestra was beyond praise,
the concentration maintained throughout.
Having
heard Debussy’s Jeux
(1912/13) so recently, it was fascinating
to hear Dukas’ La Péri (1911/12).
Dukas certainly may have influenced Debussy,
for this last publication of his is evocative
in the extreme (indeed, the two works share
the same ‘shape’). The opening fanfare (probably
the most famous bit of it), played standing,
was given with great aplomb by the BBCSO’s
brass – the evocative upper string opening
and warm cello melodies providing contrast.
It would be fair to say that there are sensual
elements to this score that Debussy extended
into the realms of the erotic. Dukas’ sensuality
is firmer than Debussy’s, less elusive, yet
no less French in essence.
Finally,
some Straussian opulence in the form of Also
sprach Zarathustra. Brabbins projected
the structure of Strauss’ tone poem effectively
– if only there had been more depth to the
strings, and the timpani had not been so light
in the famous opening (‘Sunrise’). But there
was much to admire here, not least the embryonic
aspirations of the ‘Mankind’ theme on its
first appearances or the Straussian opulence
of ‘Of Joys and Passions’. Brabbins clearly
enjoys Strauss’ virtuosity (all three composers
in this concert had or have tremendous ears
for sonority, in their different ways) and
there were contrasts aplenty. Particularly
impressive was the way the fugue theme (‘Of
Science’) crawled out of the primordial sludge
and how in the course of its working out rigour
gave way to vigour.
Inspired
concert planning, then. The works of Unsuk
Chin are clearly worth seeking out. Intriguingly,
Chin is working on an opera for Los Angeles.
Watch this space …
Colin
Clarke
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