SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Berlioz, Martinů and Dvořàk: Thomas Rann  (cello), London Phoenix Orchestra, Levon Parikian, St John’s, Smith Square, London, 5.5.2009 (BBr)

Berlioz: Overture: Le Corsaire, op.9 (1844)
Martinů: Les Fresques de Piero della Francesca (1955)
Dvořàk: Cello Concerto in B minor, op.104 (1895)


A very attractive programme made all the more interesting by the inclusion of a late masterpiece by Bohuslav Martinů, the 50^th anniversary of whose death we are commemorating this year – but I notice that his magnificent Symphonies, Concertos and String Quartets (especially the stunning No.5) are, so far, conspicuously absent from concert programmes, with the exception of the 2 Piano Concerto at the Proms. I don’t want to appear ungrateful for what I am offered but I want more; and the public deserves to hear more of this composer for he is a major figure who wrote accessible music which speaks directly to his audience. So full marks to the London Phoenix Orchestra for making this work available to us tonight.

Berlioz’s Le Corsaire is a swashbuckler of an overture and just the right kind of thing to get any concert underway in high spirits. However, almost immediately there was one very obvious problem – the very resonant acoustic of St John’s, Smith Square. Before tonight I’d only ever heard string quartets and small (very small) orchestras in this building and the sound was excellent for them, but with a full symphony orchestra the acoustic simply couldn’t cope. Parikian started much slower than is usual and I wondered of he’d had to make some last minute adjustments in his interpretation to allow for the muddiness which we heard in the hall. The brass sounded resplendent, as it should in this music, but the woodwind and strings appeared underpowered. There was one other problem with the sound of the hall – at no time throughout the whole concert was it possible for the players to achieve a real piano, let alone a pianissimo, and thus everything came at us from mezzo forte upwards. This is no criticism of the playing which was fine, but it was prevented from being heard to best effect.

The Martinů posed all kinds of interesting problems. It’s very thickly scored for a start, and his rich harmonic vocabulary is always rapidly changing and a clear sound is necessary for us to follow his argument. The first movement is quite beautiful and relaxed with some gorgeous string writing and this went well, but the faster music of the other two pieces (not necessarily faster tempi) was sometimes unclear. There was much to enjoy in this performance – my only criticism is some rather restrained cymbal playing – when one could hear it without benefit of extra echo – the horns were especially good – and it was obvious that the players were enjoying every minute of the piece. This was a fine performance, full of subtlety and beauty (this is a very beautiful score) and Parikian had obviously given much time to working out how to bring out the best in the music and show his players to their best advantage.

After the interval Dvořàk’s glowing Cello Concerto went much more successfully simply because his orchestration is nowhere near as flamboyant as either of the other two composers and his harmonic change is slower. Some of the tuttis were defeated by the sound of the hall and some of Rann’s rapid passage work was lost but, overall, what we heard was a good performance with everything in place, a nice interplay between soloist and orchestra and a splendid interpretation. At the end, leader Catherine Lindley made a most distinguished contribution with her short, almost heartbreaking, duets with the cello. Rann was an excellent soloist and gave everything in the service of the music.

The concert was dedicated to the memory of James Haswell OBE who was a leading light of the London Phoenix Orchestra, becoming its chairman for many years, and who passed away last October aged 86. Both Levon Parikian and one of Haswell’s sons spoke eloquently and affectionately about him and this concert was as fine a memorial as anyone could wish for. Playing 10 out of 10, acoustic 2, and for this latter,  I am saddened for both the musicians and the audience.

Bob Briggs


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