SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Sibelius: Henning Kraggerud (violin) London Philharmonic Orchestra, Osmo Vänskä (conductor) Royal Festival Hall, London 27.1.2010 (GD)

The Wood Nymph
Six Humoresques for violin and orchestra
Symphony No.1 in E minor, Op. 39.


This was the first in a series of concerts with Vänskä and the LPO which consist of the seven Sibelius symphonies interspersed with lesser played instrumental, vocal and orchestral compositions. Vänskä 's work/reputation has become synonymous with Sibelius and throughout tonight’s concert a total and fresh identification with the composer was apparent. Of special interest here was the early poem ' The Wood Nymph', dating from 1894. After a visit to Bayreuth in early 1894, Sibelius, like many composers of the time, was enthralled by the Wagner 'effect' and even contemplated writing an opera of his own. As has often been noted, the Wagner influence is there in ‘The Wood Nymph’; one only has to hear the C major allusions to the Prelude from Das Rheingold in the work’s opening sustained (but fluctuating) harmonies. But at a more substantive level, one can also hear throughout the whole work, Sibelius developing his own unique orchestral/compositional style; the long, quasi-chromatic, ostinato sequences, which morph into fragmented  bi-tonal clusters; the held C major modal tonic points, and just as importantly, elements of the very distinctive and evocative orchestral technique that Sibelius would make his own in the later orchestral works. I am thinking here of the plangent harmonies in the woodwinds and the innovative deployment of long bass drum rolls reinforcing modal  harmonic configurations and resolutions. The Wood Nymph myth itself comes from a genealogy of heraldic themes typical of Nordic mythology, which Sibelius was to continue to thematise in his work throughout his composing career. The myth tells the overused narrative of a young knight in a wood who becomes bewitched by an obviously sexually predatory female succubus stereotype. The nymph, in the text, deprives the young hero of his heart, a metaphor for female feral sexual rapaciousness in fin de siècle culture The author here was the Swedish mythologist Victor Rydberg.

Sibelius was a great miniaturist and had no qualms about producing 'light' music and his beautifully crafted Humoresques wonderfully characterise this 'popular'side of the Finnish master. The six pieces in this form (all for relatively modest orchestral forces) range from the melodic and reflective, to the more rhythmically inflected 'gypsy' inspired pieces. Henning Kraggerud conveyed  this  idiom perfectly making some of the more technically demanding pieces sound tantalisingly accessible.

Much has written on the obvious influence of Russian composers (particularly Tchaikovsky and Borodin) on Sibelius's First Symphony of 1899. But, as with the earlier tone poem, it is remarkable how much the young Sibelius was projecting his own voice here, especially in the first movement, the 'Allegro energico' development section, where those sharp cross rhythms in the brass, and sudden abrubt tonal/harmonic shifts, pre-figure the composer’s later more austere innovations. All this was emphasised tonight by Vänskä who took the movement as marked, fast and energetic, certainly eschewing the heavy, emotionally charged  rhetoric invested into this music by more 'soulful' conductors. Vänskä 's avoidance of too much 'interpretation' and his focus on what the composer wrote revealed the whole symphony in a fresh and challenging light. The second movement 'andante' had more clarity, particularly in its balance of counterpoint and lyrical charge,  than is usually heard, with a particularly well-sculpted contour given to the G minor interlude for woodwind counterpoint; and also in the dramatic contrast found in the agitated climax as it erupts from the preceding lyrical meditation on solo cello. The third movement 'scherzo' didn't sound simply like a Borodin miniature showpiece: Vänskä imbued it with a range of sharp rhythmic  inflections; the timpani rhythmically alert and arresting, but never loud or bombastic. The trio was sustained with just the right degree of lyrical poise, beautifully balanced tonight in the typically Sibelian textural combination of  horns, tuba, bassoons and  solo cello.  Even the finale’s big tune, which can, and frequently does, sound very 'Hollywood', was symphonically contoured to cohere with its initial syncopated incarnation at the finale's dramatic opening statement. And the timpani roll, which subsides into the concluding E minor pizzicato chords, reminding us of the first movement’s coda, was as superbly, and dramatically, moulded as I have heard. Throughout the concert, the LPO responded  excellently to Vänskä 's (and Sibelius's) every demand. Occasionally I missed the greater tonal (Nordic/austere)  finesse of Vänskä 's own Lahti Symphony Orchestra, particularly in the brass, but overall this was Sibelius playing of a  high order.

Geoff Diggines.