SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Smetana: Overture: The Bartered Bride (1866/1870)
Dvořák: Violin Concerto in A minor, op.53 (1879 rev 1880 rev 1882)
Hummel: Trumpet Concerto in E (1803)
Dvořák: Symphony No.8 in G, op.88 (1889)

After two evenings of Libor Pešek’s insightful interpretations of Czech music, the baton passed to Petr Altrichter for a more romantic approach, leaning towards a freer approach to the music.

Smetana’s Bartered Bride Overture is too often used as a showpiece where the orchestra plays for all it is worth at the expense of loosing the charm and humour of the work. Not so this evening, for Altrichter chose a tempo which, whilst allowing the delicious chatter of the strings and woodwind to speak clearly, still raced along but every note registered without any sense of rush. This was delightful, and I felt that Altrichter had hit on exactly the right approach for this bubbling music.

It cannot be admitted that Dvořák’s Violin Concerto is the equal of the gorgeous Cello Concerto for it has neither the melodic charm nor the romantic feel of that great work. However, tonight’s performance by Charlie Siem went a long way to making me believe that it is a better piece than it actually is for, by taking the bull by the horns, so to speak, Siem and Altrichter gave the Concerto a big performance, letting the piece breathe and, believing in every note, they held the rather diffuse argument together and played for all they were worth. The slow movement was meltingly beautiful and the finale was the dance movement it so obviously is, but seldom does one hear it with such a delightful dancing gait. This interpretation smiled and laughed with the composer and the music unfolded clearly with any thoughts of virtuoso display put aside to allow for the purest exposition of the music. This performance was a revelation!

So, too, was the performance of Hummel’s Trumpet Concerto, written for Anton Weidinger, the inventor of the keyed trumpet and the recipent of Haydn’s Concerto, and premièred only three years after Haydn’s masterpiece. Jan Hasenöhrl played with disarming virtuosity, throwing off the turns and trills with aplomb and displaying a beautiful lyrical side to his instrument. Apart from showing us his skill in this Concerto, Hasenöhrl is a busy man for not only is he the principal trumpet of this orchestra he is also the creator of it! His colleagues gave him solid backing, and when it got the chance Altrichter allowed his players full rein, especially in the very long exposition section of the first movement which he treated as a true symphonic opening.

The show ended with a cracking performance of Dvořák’s sunny 8th Symphony, which Altrichter gave in a performance of tremendous excitement. The tempi were fast, to be sure, but one never felt any sense of the music being rushed, even the slow movement, which, perhaps, didn’t allow for sufficient differentiation between the two different types of music employed, seemed almost “right”. But I cannot complain for the sheer delight the band displayed in playing this music dispelled any misgivings one might have felt. >

There was no encore, nor should there have been for I, for one, wouldn’t have wanted the marvelous spell Altrichter had woven to be broken. It was a privilege to hear this great orchestra in concert.

Bob Briggs