SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Tchaikovsky, Mozart, Mendelssohn: Gillian Keith (soprano), Elizabeth Cragg (mezzo), Northern Sinfonia, Northern Sinfonia Chorus, Quay Voices/Thomas Zehetmair, The Sage, Gateshead/Newcastle upon Tyne, 13.05.2009 (JL)

Mozart: Overture ‘The Magic Flute’
Tchaikovsky: Violin Concerto
Mendelssohn: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ Incidental Music

The centrepiece of this programme, and presumably the item that ensured a full house, was Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto performed by the Northern Sinfonia’s chief conductor, Thomas Zehetmair, and I can testify straightaway that it was, by any standards, an outstanding performance.

Zehetmair limbered up by conducting Mozart’s Magic Flute Overture, a piece tailor made for the Northern Sinfonia, Mozart’s wonderful wind writing showing off the skills of the players but,  above all, there was a perfection of poise and balance, the relatively reduced string complement thoroughly suiting the music.

But how would the big, popular Concerto fare with a string section at least half the size you would normally encounter in this work? The test would be in the first movement when the main melody, gently introduced by the violin at the start, is treated to a full orchestral, blockbusting return.  Well, I did not even notice – it was as thrilling a moment as it so often can be. How the Sinfonia strings achieve this body of sound I am not sure. It must be some sort of sleight of ear.  The formula has already worked brilliantly with the Brahms Concerto and Zehetmair’s  CD recording  of the work a couple of years ago was ecstatically received.

Not every orchestra can boast a resident world-class violinist who can turn his hand to any repertoire concerto, and Zehetmair’s double role as soloist and conductor ensures performances of immaculate team work. Although Zehetmair  spent most of his time with his back to the orchestra,  there was a palpable understanding resulting in a rare quality of ensemble. For example, every slow-down and accelerando was spot on.

Zehetmair started slightly shakily, but after all, he had been conducting Mozart when he otherwise might have been warming up with his violin. But he was soon serving up a breathtaking performance. His style is often aggressive and his tone has an unusual range. On the low G string he can be powerfully rasping and at the top he achieves a sweetness that would be difficult to match.  The standing ovation at the end was well deserved, and to calm the audience down he encored with the slow movement again, but this time in an orchestrated rendering of Tchaikovsky’s recycled version for violin and piano (the middle movement of an otherwise new piece) played with mute.

I would guess that most people in the audience would never have heard all the music for Mendelssohn’s Midsummer Night’s Dream, complete with vocal and choral movements, and it may well have been revelation. The delicate textures of the Overture and Scherzo, the lyricism of the Nocturne and the exuberance of the Wedding March are all pop classics but  the all-female vocal and choral music is an equal delight. The two splendid soloists took the part of fairies and the choral music is in a German style that will be familiar to anyone who knows Schubert’s lesser known choral works and his operas. It is a style much pastiched by Sullivan in the Savoy operas but it could be argued that Mendelssohn does it best. The Quay Voices, a regional youth choir, joined by some members of the Northern Sinfonia chorus, were an absolute delight, singing without music. There might have been those who would have regarded Zehetmair’s  approach rather hard driven for  some of the music but  at least all forces were at one and it was another great team effort.

Fortunately, the Violin Concerto was deservedly recorded for posterity by Classic FM  Radio, although it is a shame the Mendelssohn was not.

John Leeman

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