Ars Musica 2007 Brussels (2) -  Britten, Pintscher, Benjamin, Harvey: Hae_Sun Kang (violin); Orchestre National de Belgique; Matthias Pintscher (conductor) Palais des Beaux Arts, Brussels  11.03 2007 (HC)

Benjamin Britten : Four Sea Interludes Op.33a

Matthias Pintscher : en sourdine

George Benjamin : Sudden Time

Jonathan Harvey : ...towards a pure land

For many years now, the Ars Musica festival in Brussels has been generally regarded as some sort of High Mass for contemporary music. Programmes however, manage to include some better-known aspects of contemporary music, although recent music is also featured prominently. This year, the only orchestral concert could have been titled “Mostly British”, since works by Britten, Benjamin and Harvey were played next to Pintscher’s large-scale en sourdine for violin and orchestra.

The concert began with a fine reading of Britten’s Four Sea Interludes Op.33a which were familiar enough to Brussels audiences since Britten’s opera has been regularly staged at La Monnaie. This was followed of Pintscher’s en sourdine (2002). In this work for violin and orchestra, the layout of the orchestra was modified : the strings were divided into two groups placed on both sides of the rostrum whereas a pair of pianos and another pair of harps were seated in front of the conductor. These, and the rest of the orchestra, were surrounded by a large percussion section. Present and exposed almost from first to last, the soloist’s part is extremely taxing, although it requires musicality as much as pure virtuosity. The large orchestral forces are rarely used to the full and are, so to say, reserved for some climaxes. Most of the time, however, the music unfolds as a subtle and often poetic dialogue between the soloist and small instrumental groups, which – to a certain extent – justifies the somewhat misleading title of the work. I had never heard any of Pintscher’s music before, but I was quite impressed by his orchestral mastery as well as by his poetic vision. This is a work that I would like to hear again. Hae-Sun Kang’s playing was simply stunning, and she negotiated her part with aplomb, immaculate technique and remarkable musicality.

Both George Benjamin and Jonathan Harvey are well known to Ars Musica’s audiences, because their music has featured quite often during the festivals. A few years ago, we had the opportunity to hear Benjamin’s Sometimes Voices and Harvey’s White as Jasmine. Other works by Benjamin were also performed this year -Piano Figures and Shadowlines played by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and Three Miniatures for Solo Violin played by Carolin Widmann. Sudden Times is a reasonably well-known work, since it has already been recorded twice. This brilliant and finely crafted orchestral work received a most committed reading. On the other hand, Jonathan Harvey’s ... towards a pure land was a Belgian premiere. This is yet another Zen-inspired work in Harvey’s most delicate and subtle vein, a score full of unfathomable mysteries. A very fine score that nevertheless left me wanting for more; but this may be due to the actual performance, which was again very fine but seemed to lack just that extra bit of finesse which the music obviously calls for.

Unfortunately, this very fine and attractive programme did not seem to attract as many people as one might have expected; but those who were there obviously enjoyed it enormously.

 

Hubert Culot

 

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