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AND HEARD CONCERT REVIEW
Debussy, Copland and Rimsky–Korsakov:
James Meldrum (clarinet), Royal College of Music Symphony Orchestra,
John Wilson, Cadogan Hall, London, 13.11.2008 (BBr)
Debussy:
Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune (1892/1894)
Copland: Clarinet Concerto (1949)
Rimsky–Korsakov:
Scheherazade, op.35 (1886)
This concert was as good as anything you’d be able to hear in any
Concert Hall in London with playing of the very highest calibre and
a spirit and enjoyment which comes with youth. John Wilson, himself
still quite a spring chicken, was exactly the right man to encourage
such fine performances.
Debussy’s famous
Prélude
got things off to a very satisfactory start. From the sensuous flute
solo – played with admirable simplicity, whilst oozing sensuality,
by Amalia Tortajada – to the final bars with muted horns and antique
cymbals, Wilson directed his young charges with a restraint which
allowed him to build the most beautiful, and full, climax in the
middle. What playing and what understanding.
This was followed by the Copland Clarinet Concerto, written
for Benny Goodman, and one was impressed with
James Meldrum’s control of the difficult solo part. What really made
an impact was his expert handling of the second, jazz–inflected
section. Many players see fit to pull Copland’s carefully written
line about, in the strange belief that this will make the already
jazzy music even jazzier. This is, of course, incorrect. If this
music is played as written, and Meldrum stuck to the part (as far as
I could tell from memory, not having the dots in front of me), it is
all the more jazzy and makes a very effective, and exciting, foil to
the laid–back slow waltz which makes up the first part of the work.
Meldrum has only recently graduated from the RCM and he seems set
for great things. Wilson’s accompaniment was never backward in
coming forwards and he encouraged the small orchestra of strings,
piano and harp to make the most of the varied and colourful music
given to them.
After the interval came a performance of Rimsky’s Scheherazade
which raised the roof in its power and intensity. The full orchestra
reveled in this marvelous score, enjoying the virtuoso scoring and
vivid and brilliant writing for the instruments. Leader Martyn
Jackson, taking the part of the eponymous heroine, was striking in
his role as storyteller, and he was ably aided by harpist Jose
Antonio Domene. For their part the orchestra played its collective
heart out for Wilson whose vision of the piece was of a large scale
drama – with a delicate love scene in the third movement – and the
sound was truly awe–inspiring in its fullness and richness. There is
no doubt in my mind that this was a great performance where
everything went just right and it could not have been bettered. The
quiet ending left the audience spellbound and sitting in silence at
the sheer magnificence of what it had heard.
Before the music John Wilson gave a short speech about Nicholas
Branston, a promising horn player from the RCM who had died in July
in a road accident, telling the audience that the concert was
dedicated to his memory and a scholarship had been set up in his
name, asking that we contribute so that young musicians can benefit
and continue to give performances of the highest quality. The
scholarship is a wonderful idea and if you wish to contribute, and
we should all be grateful for what we are priviledged to hear
courtesy of our Music Colleges, please contact Susan Sturrock,
Director of Communications at the RCM on 020 7591 4780 or
ssturrock@rcm.ac.uk. As Bob Geldrof once said, “Give us
your…money”. You won’t regret it.
A fabulous show, one of which both the students of the RCM, and the
RCM itself, can be very proud.
Bob Briggs
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