Founded as recently
as 1993, the Czech National Symphony Orchestra
was the brainchild of Jan Hasenöhrl,
a trumpet player who has since combined a
dual career as principal trumpet in the orchestra
as well as Managing Director. Originally falling
under the direction of Zdenek Kosler, the
orchestra appointed the American Paul Freeman
chief conductor in 1996 and this current season
sees its first collaboration with Czech compatriot
Libor Pešek.
The
varied programme on offer in Birmingham (Vltava,
Rodrigo’s effervescent Guitar Concerto
and The Planets) seems typical of their
tour programming in general with a concert
of the same week in nearby Warwick University
Arts Centre including the diversities of Philip
Glass’s Violin Concerto (with soloist
Chloë Hanslip) and Resphigi’s The
Pines of Rome. Little doubt then that
the appeal of the programme played its part
in ensuring one of the fullest Symphony Hall
audiences I have witnessed for some time.
The
undercurrents of Pešek’s Vltava seemed
to flow somewhat more quickly than some and
whilst it was clear what the conductor wished
to achieve, the flutes in the opening bars
simply failed to emulate the cool fluidity
that Smetana intended. Perhaps the experience
of listening to countless concerts by the
CBSO in Symphony Hall has moulded my aural
perception here but the lack of warmth from
the orchestra’s string section struck me immediately
upon their first entry and stubbornly refused
to leave my consciousness throughout the concert.
On the positive side however, Pešek did try
to delicately shape the phrasing and although
he was not always successful there were some
effective moments. The polka like section
as the river winds its way past a village
wedding showed a considerably greater feeling
of character and went some way to resurrect
what could otherwise have descended into a
disappointingly mediocre performance of a
work that the orchestra surely must have in
their blood.
The
indisposition of Greek guitarist Eleftheria
Kotzia meant that Carlos Bonell stepped into
the breech at presumably very short notice
to perform Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto
de Aranjuez. It is a work that flows through
Bonell’s veins (he was born in London of Spanish
parentage) and no doubt many in the audience
would have been familiar with his landmark
recording of the work for Decca back in the
early 1980’s with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra
and Charles Dutoit. Indeed, the substantial
audience clearly enjoyed the experience immensely
judging by their ovation and rightly so for
Bonell’s performance was undoubtedly the highlight
of the night. It was a pity that the opening
bars seemed to be marred by some distorted
amplification and that the finer detail in
the guitar’s quicker passages was not always
clearly audible. This problem disappeared
in the second movement however, which saw
Bonell and the orchestra at their best with
playing of fine sensitivity from the soloist
well reciprocated in the orchestra. The appealingly
good natured final movement was despatched
with equal aplomb and one was left with the
impression that if the orchestra responded
to the conductor as they did to the soloist,
then the music making would have been of a
consistently higher standard than it ultimately
was.
Sadly
this was borne out all too clearly in the
second half performance of The Planets,
which simply failed to ignite from the very
opening. Pešek’s over mannered podium style
and apparent lack of eye and facial expression
resulted in a curiously subdued account, with
Mars lacking the simmering menace,
inexorable cumulative power and ultimate brutality
that are essential to its doom laden inspiration.
Even the brass failed to engage in what should
be a field day for the section and I found
myself willing the trumpets to hammer out
the familiar 5/4 rythem following the ominous
stillness of the central section. Conversely
the solo horn at the opening of Venus
showed little of the tranquillity one would
hope for at the outset of this movement, being
both too loud and possessing an irritating
vibrato wholly inappropriate for the stillness
of the music. Sadly the whole movement felt
unsettled as a result. Mercury and
Jupiter fared better and whilst I would
have hoped for a slightly subtler winged messenger,
Jupiter possessed both spirit and a
gratifying string sound in I vow to thee
my country. Like Mars, Saturn and
Uranus seemed to be restricted by the
refusal of the orchestra to come out of their
shells and the brass once again would have
done better to let their hair down. Indeed,
the conductor’s failure to encourage his players
to be a little more reckless in the maniacal
dance at the centre of Uranus meant
that Holst’s fine scoring was simply not given
the justice it deserves. The mysteries of
Neptune were at least more atmospherically
captured in conclusion, aided by the ladies
of the City of Birmingham Choir who remained
off stage for their entire contribution.Carlos
Bonell’s engaging performance of Rodrigo’s
Concerto remained the highlight of
the night then, whilst regrettably it was
the encore of a Dvorak Slavonic Dance
that ultimately proved to provide the most
characterful and ebullient orchestral playing
of the concert.
Christopher
Thomas
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