SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Elgar, Barber and Brahms: James Ehnes (violin),  Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop, Cheltenham Town Hall, 18.2.2010 (RJ)


Conductor Marin Alsop has broken through the glass ceiling to become the first woman to head a major American orchestra, the Baltimore Symphony. This will come as no surprise to those of us who experienced her work with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra during her six year tenure as its Principal Conductor. I suspect that during her time in Bournemouth she not only immersed herself in the British musical scene, but also became a keen observer of the English psyche. If so, she used this knowledge to good effect in the first work of the evening - that portrait gallery of English characters which is The Enigma Variations.

Her performance brought the people all vividly to life - from the bluff country squire of Variation 4 to the chaotic architect Troyte Griffith in Variation 7 and the stuttering Dorabella of Variation 10. The conversation on the strings in Variation 5 got very ponderous until the woodwinds representing the witty Richard Penrose Arnold lightened the tone of the proceedings. Nimrod was beautifully played and brought to mind the spirit of Beethoven's slow movements which entranced both Jaeger and Elgar. The Romanza, alluding to Lady Mary Lygon's long sea voyage to Australia, was performed with exquisite delicacy. But the mood changed as the ship's engines started and Elgar himself strode triumphantly out of the shadows to take his bow in the final variation.

Marin Alsop has always seen herself as an ambassador for American music and programming Samuel Barber's Violin Concerto after the Elgar was particularly felicitous. However, the audience did not need to brace themselves for a sudden change of idiom, since the first two movements of the concerto had a rather English feel. The first began gently with a lyrical melody on the solo violin from Canadian James Ehnes. Then followed a slightly halting but no less tuneful theme introduced by the woodwind. A fine balance was achieved between the soloist and the orchestra and the movement proceeded in a seemingly effortless fashion to its conclusion. The slow movement was also tinged with a Romantic melancholy with a colourful and relaxing opening passage for orchestra alone. Later the soloist joined in and the tone became more intense with a flurry of emotional outpourings from the violin until calm was restored.The finale, by contrast, was an all-American moto perpetuo full of lively synchopations taken at lightning speed and making considerable demands on all the musicians. Here James Ehnes showed himself to be a master of technical wizardry as well as a musician of considerable intelligence.

Brahms' Third Symphony completed the evening, and Marin Alsop did not spare the orchestra in her efforts to bring out the angst and restlessness of the mighty first movement, while at the same time lightening up the musical textures so that the different sections of the orchestra could be clearly heard.  Clarity was also the hallmark of the serene Andante and the relaxed Third Movement with its varied orchestration where each instrument is given the opportunity in turn to play the melodic line. Turbulence returned in the Finale with the conductor exacting an especially powerful reponse from the strings. Yet there were several intimate passages to counterbalance the stormy upheavals to reveal a more tender side to the composer.

This was an epic performance indeed, in which the magnificent musicians from Bournemouth spared no effort to satisfy the musical demands of their conductor emeritus. Marin Alsop still possesses that magic touch to inspire her musicians and shed new light on established works. For these reasons I hope she will return many more times to these shores.

Roger Jones