SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD UK CONCERT REVIEW

Dvořák, Britten, Shostakovich: Daniel Hope (violin), Mark Elder (conductor), London Symphony Orchestra, Barbican Hall, London, 10.6.2010 (GDn)

Dvořák: Scherzo capriccioso Op.66

Britten: Violin Concerto Op.15

Shostakovich: Symphony No.6 in B minor Op.54

 

Can Mark Elder do no wrong? His recent Götterdämmerung recording with the Hallé is receiving plaudits from all quarters, the Billy Budd he is currently conducting at Glyndebourne is truly stunning, not least for the focus of his music direction, and now this, a concert with the LSO that was at least the equal of any of their (all impressive) recent London performances.

It was a programme of lesser known works by better known composers, certainly adventurous, and brave considering it contained no real crowd-pullers. It drew a healthy audience nonetheless, who, judging by the Proms-like applause, got what they came for.

There’s nothing very deep or moving about Dvořák’s Scherzo capriccioso, but that’s no reason not to use it as a concert opener. Most of the music is in a breezy Slavic vein, although Dvořák pulls out all the stops for some over-the-top climaxes. The secret of Mark Elder’s success with this piece was his not taking anything too seriously. True enough, there are moments here and there where a swooping string melody needs impassioned rubato, or punchy brass interjections must be heavily articulated, and he ensured that these came through with the required pathos. But for the most part he was happy to let the music follow its course. Great playing from the strings here, precisely co-ordinated and dark of tone. Some of the ensemble in the woodwind was a little shaky, and there were occasional tuning problems in the brass, but both sections were more than redeemed by their contributions to the later works.

I will confess to being a little disappointed by the late cancellation of Janine Jansen, who was originally engaged to play the Britten. Fortunately, Daniel Hope took her place, and performed the work with such élan that all thoughts of original bookings were soon forgotten. I suspect the change of soloist had been arranged at very short notice (it was certainly after the programmes had been published), and there were one or two aspects of Hope’s performance that betrayed an understandable lack of preparation. He had the music with him, although of course there is no shame in that. More significantly, while he was clearly in control of the part, he very rarely made it look easy. There were one or two places where Britten’s technically demanding textures didn’t quite come off, some of the double stopped harmonics, for example, and some of the passage work was a little wayward in its tuning, but on the whole this was a great performance. It is a concerto that requires a very wide range of textures from the soloist, and Hope’s performance was one of impressive timbral variety. And it is a work in which the soloist must emote, but in a curiously mediated, almost formalised way. Hope took all these stylistic contradictions and challenges in his stride and delivered a fine performance.

Great playing from the orchestra too in the Britten. Again the woodwind struggled slightly in their ensemble passages, but more than made up for this in their solos. Fabulous trombone playing I thought. Britten has a habit of writing for the trombone section in unison, not a good idea as it is almost impossible for trombones to play unison passages in tune – as you’ll hear in almost any recording of The Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra. He does it in the passacaglia theme of the Violin Concerto’s third movement, but the intonation here was perfect! An all too rare achievement. The percussion section also excelled in the Britten. In fact, it was quite a night for them, as Shostakovich’s Sixth Symphony keeps them busy as well. The percussion playing in the second movement of the Shostakovich was phenomenal, again it is an underappreciated aspect of any orchestral playing the precision of its percussion section, but the quality of their playing this evening really stood out.

The symphony also provided a series of opportunities for the woodwind section to excel as soloists, and on some unusual instruments too: cor anglais, bass clarinet, bassoon, piccolo. These were among the highlights of the first movement, although the real stars throughout the symphony were the string section. Throughout the concert in fact, the string playing was excellent.

But fine as both orchestra and soloist were, the success of this concert came down to its conductor. His ability to produce finely detailed and co-ordinated orchestral textures without tyrannical control of the beat is as paradoxical as it is musically satisfying. And his ability to find and convey the musical value in all of this music, all lesser works from their composers’ catalogues, was the common thread that linked the performances. Never was a knighthood bestowed upon a musician so richly deserved.

Gavin Dixon