Dvořák: Steven Isserlis (cello); Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment/Sir Simon Rattle. Barbican Hall, 15.5. 2007 (CC)

 

Sir Simon Rattle has always put exploration and revisionist thinking at the top of his musical list, and nowhere has this been more in evidence than in this concert. Rattle's script seemed to be to blow the cobwebs off traditional Dvořák thought and to show the scores in a new light. He succeeded – particularly in the second half.

But first came the famous Cello Concerto. Immediately, it was evident that clarity was to the fore, with the clearer edges of the OAE bringing the lines into sharp focus (the antiphonal string layout helped, also). There was more drama here than we often encounter, a drama that framed rather than was appeased by the lovely horn solo that makes up the second subject. Isserlis is a very mobile player, not necessarily an indicator of great expression but on this his mobility happened to be a good guide. Close your eyes, the feeling is still there, especially in the affecting simplicity of utterance he brought to his statement of the second subject. More, Isserlis can 'whiten' his tone most effectively and his pianissimi can be magical (a trait especially in evidence in the slow movement). His slow movement soliloquy was absolutely gripping. The tread of low strings that opened the finale was significantly more ominous than I have previously heard it – almost operatic in scope, in fact. To Isserlis' credit, his rendition of the solo part in this finale had virtuosity taking second place to a Dvořákian freshness. Rattle was a model accompanist.

The Sixth Symphony of Dvořák deserves more airings. It is a glorious, D major outpouring that marks the composer's arrival at fully-fledged symphonic mastery. Right from the word go, Rattle presented the score in the most natural way possible, bringing out an outdoor rawness to he horns and some delicious moments of anticipation. The influence of early Wagner seemed to be highlighted, too, in some of the brass writing. Rattle's interpretative stance on the Sixth seemed to be to reveal the disturbance that underlies an apparent calm. This was especially clear in the slow movement, whose inner voices subtly undermined what Jan Smaczny in his programme notes calls the movement's 'restrained nobility'. The OAE brought extraordinary delicacy to some sections, shedding new light on them, just as it brought fiery dynamism and colourful rusticity to the Scherzo and Trio (the use of original instruments really helped here). The decision to use antiphonal violins clarified the textures of the finale massively (a finale that journeyed through more varied terrain than we normally hear).


Revelatory – especially the Sixth.

 

Colin Clarke