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Haydn: Gillian Ramm (soprano), Joshua Ellicott (tenor), The Classical Opera Company, Ian Page, Kings Place, London 12.3.2009 (GDn)

Haydn: Symphony no 26 in D minor 'Lamentatione' and excerpts from Le pescatrici, Philemon und Baucis, L'infedeltà delusa and L'incontro improvviso

Symphony no 45 in F sharp minor 'Farewell' 


Weekly transformations have seen the Kings Place concert hall take on many roles since its opening last year. Short programmes highlight the versatility of the space, as it acts one week as a Paris salon, the next as a mediaeval chapel. This week's incarnation is as the Esterházy summer palace, complete with concert hall, opera house and even puppet theatre. The concerts, given by the Classical Opera Company under Ian Page, survey Haydn's work for the Esterházy family through performances of his middle period symphonies interspersed with extracts from his all too neglected operas. Thursday's concert saw them in Sturm und Drang mode, with two of his darker, minor-key symphonies, numbers 26 (Lamentatione) and 45 (Farewell) framing a selection of arias from the operas Le pescatrici, Philemon und Baucis, L'infedeltà delusa and L'incontro improvviso.

The Classical Opera Company is a relatively new venture (it was founded by Page in 1997) and the artistic focus of their work is impressive. Page is at the stricter end of the period performance spectrum, steady (although not always fast) tempi with a minimum of ebb or flow and string playing without even the hint of vibrato. The size of the orchestra, at less than twenty players, may seem stingy but is apparently authentic to this repertoire. The tone of the programme gives the impression that the company styles itself after Glyndebourne, taking chances on new singing talent rather than relying on their continuing loyalty further down the line. It is perhaps too early to judge the success of this strategy, but the two up-and-coming soloists at this concert, soprano Gillian Ramm and tenor Joshua Ellicott, demonstrated both the pros and the cons of the policy.

Ellicott has a light tenor that is often the ideal partner to Page's tiny orchestra. He has nailed the controlled, yet emotive, style that this 18^th century repertoire requires, although some of Haydn's vocal acrobatics showed the limits of his technique. His first aria 'Tra tuoni, lampi e fulmini' from Le pescatrici is sturm und drang in microcosm, with a sea storm graphically represented through a virtuoso vocal line that took him well outside his comfort zone. Ellicott's second appearance was more impressive in the aria 'Wenn am weiten Firmamente', from the puppet opera Philemon und Baucis. His straightforward, if slightly underpowered, tone carried the plaintive directness of this music much more successfully, weaving in and out of an elegant oboe obbligato.

Each of these tenor arias was serviceable enough, but the voice of Gillian Ramm is in another class. She, too, has mastered the controlled expressivity of 18^th century opera, but with a supported and projecting voice that lends real presence. It's not a particularly rounded tone, some may find it shrill in the top register, but the glassy clarity creates a timbral focus for the otherwise rounded sounds of the period instrument ensemble, a perfect combination.

Accompanying these singers brings out the best in the players, and without them the orchestra struggles to maintain a sense of phrase and linear structure. Ian Page approaches Haydn's humour with a furrowed brow, his abrupt tempo changes and movement endings presented with stark precision to ensure the point is made. When this works it is very effective, for instance at the end of the third movement of the Farewell, where the carpet was deftly pulled from under the listeners' feet. It was less successful at the end of the first movement of the Lamentatione as the orchestra did not seem to be in on the joke, the unannounced caesura taking even them by surprise.

Of the two symphonies, the Farewell was the better performance. The rich sonorities the orchestra found in the music's F sharp minor tonality gave the first movement real substance, and the later movements retained the sense of engagement and focus. The small ensemble allows little scope for blending tone colours, and the horns were particularly prominent. The hall has a good acoustic for natural horns, with their bells facing the resonant panelling along the back of the stage. Complaints of excess would be fully justified, but what a shame to reduce this rich throaty tone merely for the sake of good taste.

For an encore another Haydn finale, from his 60^th Symphony. A more decisive way to conclude the evening than with the piecemeal coda of the 45^th, but also perhaps an acknowledgement that, only three months into a year-long global celebration of Haydn's work, signing off with a farewell from the composer might seem somewhat premature.

Gavin Dixon

Dr. Gavin Dixon is a writer and composer based in Hertfordshire, UK. His web site Musical Miscellany is is here.

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