SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Vaughan Williams, Mozart and Copland: Lara Melda (formerly Ömeroglu) (piano), English Chamber Orchestra, Stephanie Gonley (violin/director), Cadogan Hall, London, 21.10.2010 (BBr)

Vaughan Williams: Fantasia on a theme of Thomas Tallis (1910)

Mozart: Piano Concerto in A, K.414 (1783)

Vaughan Williams: The Lark Ascending (1914)

Copland: Appalachian Spring (1944)

It was a bold move to perform the Tallis Fantasia with an orchestra of 6/4/2/2/1, for one couldn’t imagine the sound would be sufficiently full. However, in the marvellously rich acoustic of the Cadogan Hall, and with superb playing from the English Chamber Orchestra, there were no problems. Seating the distant orchestra behind the stage, but in full view of the audience, this proved to be a most successful and heart-warming performance, with space for the music to breathe, and, best of all, an excellent separation of the two ensembles. Whilst not wringing the final ounce of emotion from the score, this was a well thought-out and executed interpretation, which was full of affection. And, what’s more, this performance was achieved without the benefit of a conductor; Stephanie Gonley directed from the first desk.

Lara Melda was the winner of the 2010 BBC Young Musician of the Year competition. She is a fine player, with a good technique, which was amply displayed for us, but I wonder about the validity, or even the sense, of giving such exposure to such a young performer – she is only 16 years old. True, she has won prizes and scholarships and she is giving concerts, in the near future, in Devon, Cumbria and Turkey, but one requires more than a good technique for concert-giving. Tonight I heard a pianist in the making. Miss Melda played all the notes Mozart gave her, but she failed to appreciate that this work is early Mozart – he was only a year older than Miss Melda is now when he wrote the piece – and it isn’t one of his tragic works, such as K466 or K491, nor is it one of his heroic pieces, such as K503 or K595. She also must work on her interpretation so as to get to the heart of the music, for without insight she is merely playing the piano. K414 is a gentle reverie in the sunny key of A major, with jokes and dialogues and never does a cloud cross the horizon. For me, Miss Melda played with too heavy a touch and a lack of light and shade. A final problem: the use of a modern concert grand in this work means that the performer must keep the touch delicate and the feeling light. Whilst the orchestra had exactly the right approach, it was at odds with that of the virtuoso sitting at the keyboard. Like Sophie Cashell, who won the BBC Classical Star programme, and who was immediately rushed into the recording studio (Universal Classics and Jazz 4766459), what I heard tonight was someone not quite ready for this kind of public exposure; it was neither fair to her nor to us.

After the interval, Ms Gonley gave a masterclass in interpretation and subtlety in her performance of The Lark Ascending. This could be considered to have been a Pre-Raphaelite performance; there was abundant detail and intense colours from the orchestra, and, in her own playing, Ms Gonley expressed Nature with direct, serious and heartfelt devotion to the score. The audience sat spellbound as she sang of the freedom of the bird taking flight. This was stunning.

Appalachian Spring was given in its original scoring for thirteen instruments, and it was a joy to hear the music in its birth clothes; there is a real feel of downhome fiddling, people enjoying themselves at the end of a hard day’s work, and, best of all, a real feeling of the dance. A fine performance indeed, and a happy conclusion to a generally very enjoayble show.

 

Bob Briggs