SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Adès, David Matthews and Elgar: Kensington Symphony Orchestra, Russell Keable, St John’s, Smith Square, London, 19.10.2010 (BBr)

Adès: Dances from Powder Her Face (1997)

David Matthews: Symphony No.7 (2010) (London première)

Elgar: Symphony No.2 in E flat, op.63 (1909/1910)

Tonight, an actor friend of mine gave a recital of sonnets. To hear those superb words spoken by someone who really understands them is one of the joys of life. To hear Elgar’s 2^nd Symphony given by musicians who are at one with the music gives me the same experience. I didn’t miss not hearing the sonnets, but I would have missed this Elgar if I hadn’t attended tonight.

Russell Keable and the Kensington Symphony Orchestra is a force to be reckoned with, both for their adventurous programming and their consistently high standard of performance. Tonight’s show proved these qualities in abundance for here was an Elgar 2^nd Symphony of power and huge emotion, which had a broad sweep and wide expressive range. Although the first movement was a tad too fast – the 12-8 rhythm was, at times, garbled and the music occasionally failed to register its message – Keable stuck to it throughout and created a very exciting, and contemporary, sound for the movement. The orchestration glowed and Keable wasn’t afraid to let each section have its time in the spotlight; this highlighted Elgar’s very detailed scoring, which was thus heard to full advantage. The slow movement is usually considered to be a funeral march for the recently deceased Monarch, King Edward VII, but the tempo marking is only Larghetto and Keable found exactly the right pulse, which allowed for both tension and poetry. The martial tread wasn’t overdone, and the climaxes were well conceived, growing, with ease, from the texture, through the progress of the music, to almost overpowering proportions. The Scherzo (Rondo) was well studied. And, here again, Keable’s keen sense of the development of the music let him incorporate the phantastical nightmare vision of the central section as a continuation of the argument, not as an added extra, creating a sense of disquiet and really disturbing any thoughts we had of a nice romp. Keable’s tempi for the outer sections of the finale were well chosen so as to exact the most contrast with the fugue which constitutes the middle part. The close, with its winding down, in the manner of Brahms’s 3^rd Symphony – Elgar’s favourite Symphony and the model for this conclusion – was masterful. Throughout we heard orchestral playing of the highest standard and the brilliant orchestration stood out as I have never heard it before. People always praise Strauss for his use of the orchestra but after tonight nobody could deny that Elgar possessed exactly the same abilities in orchestration. Because of this, one was aware of a work which sat firmly in the International Symphonic hierarchy and not simply the work of an Englishman.

David Matthews’s 7^th Symphony was commissioned by the BBC for its Mahler Festival, in Manchester, earlier this year. In one movement, playing for about 20 minutes, Matthews has created a work which both complements the Mahler Symphony with which it was coupled at its première, and also can stand alone as a self-contained work. It’s a tightly constructed piece, with compelling intent, and superb orchestration. But the best thing was that not only did it not outstay its welcome, as too many modern pieces do, but also it left one wanting more. I find myself being increasingly impressed the more I hear Matthews’s works, for he has a fine ear for balance and sonority and his material is always well wrought and worthwhile. He says that this might be his last Symphony. One hopes this won’t prove to be true for he has a lot to say and knows how to say it.

The show started with some dances from Thomas Adès’s opera Powder Her Face, which were poorly scored, tried too hard to please - and failed!

 

Bob Briggs