SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Handel, Haydn, Elgar, Britten:: Michael Hey (organ), Nicholas McGegan (conductor), The Juilliard Orchestra, Alice Tully Hall, New York City, 22.11.2010 (SSM)

Handel: Organ Concerto in G minor, Op. 4, No. 1

Haydn: Symphony No. 100 in G Major, Military, Hob. I:100

Elgar: The Wand of Youth: Music to a Child’s Play, Suite No. 2, Op. 1b

Britten: Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes, Op. 33a

 

It is not immediately apparent from the program notes but all the music performed here is of English origin. Handel had been living in England for twenty-four years before writing the Opus 4 set of organ concerti, and Haydn was in his second residency when he wrote his Symphony No. 100. As the English conductor Nicholas McGegan noted, November 22^nd celebrates the patron saint of music, St. Cecilia, and is the birthday of Benjamin Britten as well.

It’s certainly reason enough for choosing these works, but there were other reasons. As this was a student performance, the works selected were meant to highlight the skills of the orchestra members and, in the first piece, to give the soloist, Michael Hey, the opportunity to show his talents. Mr. Hey performed admirably, playing without a score in front of him and making the music seem improvisatory in the way that Handel might have played it. Mr. McGegan, a front runner in the Baroque early music revival, needed to sacrifice Baroque historicity, given the fact that he was leading a group of students who neither specialized in Baroque playing practices nor played on original instruments. It was clear that the string players were told to tone down their use of vibrato, but even so they produced too large a sound and at times overpowered an organ set to play with most stops off.

There was no problem with the size of the orchestra in the next work, Haydn’s Symphony No. 100. Egged on by the vivacious conductor, the orchestra used this late Haydn work as a showpiece for its skills. Mr. McGegan took a faster pace in both the opening and closing movements as if to demonstrate what the orchestra could do. A few notes not hit exactly by the horns and a cymbal player who didn’t dampen his instrument and set off squeaky overtones were minor glitches in what was an otherwise vibrant performance.

After the intermission the musicians came back on stage to form an orchestra that must have contained everyone in the school. I couldn’t do a full count, but with no fewer than seven double-bassists one gets an idea of the orchestra’s size. The Second Suite from Elgar’s Wand of Youth consists of six movements, each based on themes that Elgar wrote when he was a teenager. Mr. McGegan drew a sharply chiseled performance from the orchestra. The first movement’s March was particularly exhilarating, the violinists clearly giving added emphasis to the catchy main theme, a theme that might have been written by Elgar’s contemporary in the US, John Philip Sousa. The third and fourth movements show the clear influence of Tchaikovsky, particularly the Nutcracker Suite, and the final movement ends the work in a whirlwind of sounds.

Although I’ve yet to acquire a taste for Benjamin Britten’s music, the Interludes from Peter Grimes were certainly played well. The third movement, Moonlight, which is often done by itself, demonstrated the orchestra’s ability to do sensitive slow pieces as well as showpieces. The concert’s final piece, the fourth movement’s Storm, prominently displayed the percussion section’s talent.

Well deserved applause was given to the orchestra and its conductor for presenting a carefully constructed program, performed enthusiastically by conductor and instrumentalists alike.

Stan Metzger