SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Karen Cargill (mezzo)
Yann Beuron (tenor)
Ronan Collett (bar)
Matthew Rose (bass)

Robin Ticciati continues his very successful debut season as SCO Chief Conductor with a delightful performance of this most surprising of Berlioz’s major works. L’Enfancecontains some of Berlioz’s loveliest music, far more than just the famous Shepherds’ Farewell, and its light textures and small forces are balm to the ears of those who cower in fear at the heaven-storming thunder of works like the Requiem and Te Deum. It lacks no power, though, and its ability to tell a story is every bit as strong as that of the operas, perhaps even more so in the dramatic third part as the Holy Family come close to death before they are taken in by a family of Ishmaelites. Though he may have lost his Christian faith at the time of writing, Berlioz gives us a profoundly human story of a lonely family in need, sustained by those who are refugees and outsiders like themselves.

Musically this was a bright, almost light-touch reading of L’Enfance. The scale of the chamber orchestra and chorus was just right in the large space of the Usher Hall. Ticciati’s reading was beautifully detailed, drawing out the transparent textures and coaxing some lovely phrasing from the chorus. The huge choir gallery was used creatively with the men sitting towards the front for the first part to represent Herod’s soldiers, while the women sat towards the back to sing the distant angels. Instrumental detail was top-notch too, not least the luminous winds who shone most especially in the prelude to the second part, the finest orchestral playing of the evening. The third part trio for flutes and harp was virtuosic without losing its beauty, while elsewhere the mood of the nocturnal march in part one was dark and spooky, as edgy as the paranoid king we were about to meet.

Karen Cargill brought musical purity to the part of Mary while Ronan Collett’s Joseph provided vigorous support in what can be a fairly thankless role. Beuron’s narrator was round, characterful and very obviously French, anchoring the work securely, despite some timing slips in the scene at the oasis. By far the most memorable performance of the evening, however, was the fantastic Matthew Rose. His Herod was no ranting tyrant but a figure of humanity and even sympathy. Rose’s honeyed bass caressed beautifully the phrases of his first great aria, evoking a feeling of profound vulnerability which did not entirely vanish, even during the scene when he ordered the massacre of the innocents. His Ishmaelite Father was warm and appealing, instantly dispelling the gloom of the preceding scene when Mary and Joseph are turned away from every house they try. Rose is one of the most successful graduates of the Royal Opera House’s Young Artists scheme and it is remarkable just how far he has come in the early years of his career.

The performance will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 5^th March 2010. For both musical and dramatic reasons it is well worth catching.

Simon Thompson

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