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Keiko Abe and Dvořák: Yin–Shan Hsieh (marimba), RCM Sinfonietta, Robin O’Neill Amaryllis Fleming Concert Hall, Royal College of Music, London, 12.3.2009 (BBr)

Keiko Abe: Prism Rhapsody for marimba and orchestra (1996)

Dvořák: Symphony No.9 in E minor, From the New World, op.95 (1893)


Let’s get one thing clear from the outset. If Keiko Abe’s Prism Rhapsody was a work for piano and orchestra we’d never hear it because, as a composition, it’s grossly over–orchestrated, full of spot–the–composer sections, vulgar in the wrong way (Ibert’s Divertissement is vulgar in the right way), overlong and lacking in tunes. I’d love to be enthusiastic about the piece, but like so many of those works written for examinations at the Paris Conservatoire – Debussy’s Clarinet Rhapsody is one of the few survivors – it remains in front of the public purely because there isn’t much repertoire for solo marimba and orchestra. It’s a fantastic showcase for a virtuoso marimba player and Yin–Shan Hsieh did a very good job with the material she was given, but I have to ask, is the marimba really a solo instrument? Its tonal range is limited and the sound is dry and rather hard – lovely for colouristic effects in an orchestral work but 20 minutes or so solo? I don’t think so. True, there were some lovely moments – I was especially taken with the Frank Bridge seascape about half way through the piece, but Bridge had already done this much better himself, and there was some splendid over–the–top percussion writing, which the players really relished, but there were a couple of moments for the soloist which made me think of an article I once read about virtuoso xylophonists playing novelty numbers in music halls in the early years of the 20^th century, which I am sure was not the composer’s intention – there is a section in the scherzo of Havergal Brian’s Gothic Symphony which has the same effect, only it’s carried off in a much more successful way. So a poor piece, it has to be said, but one which received a stunning performance.

No such problems, of course, with Dvořák’s New World Symphony. O’Neill and his orchestra threw themselves into the piece with a gusto and brought off a magnificently bright and breezy performance which was hugely enjoyable. Perhaps there was a lack of subtlety in the slow movement but it didn’t matter for the passion and strength of the music was there and that’s what counts. The ending, which, I am sure, proves that Dvořák wasn’t as enamoured of the USA as we might believe him to have been – why else reprise the subtle, delicate, opening chords of the slow movement fortissimo underpinned with hammering from the timpani? – was very well handled and we were left with a feeling of shock as the final chord died away.

This is only the third or fourth orchestral concert in the RCM’s newly refurbished Concert Hall, following a stunning account of the Britten War Requiem last week, and now it’s time for the musicians to come to terms with the acoustic. Tonight, in tutti passages the full orchestral sound was well blended and the individual parts were as clear as you could want them to be. The string sound had a really rich bloom to it, whether in tutti or in the solo passage at the end of the slow movement, the brass was resplendent and the percussion filled the hall with their sound, which was always well focused. Unfortunately the flutes, in solo moments, such as the second subject of the first movement, sounded overblown, not musically for the playing was good, but rather they sounded as if there was some bad amplification in operation, which I know wasn’t true. I suspect that the hall simply played games with the upper partials of the flute timbre; this can easily be rectified with a little experimentation. Otherwise this new hall is excellent and it welcomes, and easily accommodates, such big productions. Full marks for an enjoyable, “drive time” show.

Bob Briggs


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