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SEEN AND HEARD UK CONCERT REVIEW
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, 19.3.2011 (CT)
On the face of it, the combination of an Italian orchestra and
Gustav Mahler does not seem like a match made in heaven, but the
Orchestra Nazionale di Santa Cecilia is an ensemble that prides
itself on its illustrious history of Mahler performance.
In March 1907 and April 1910 Mahler visited Rome to conduct the
orchestra in performances that prompted the Italian national
newspaper "Il Messaggero" to comment "thanks to the conductor, the
orchestra was transformed into an organism full of vigour and
perfectly balanced". Those visits were two of a very small number
of excursions that Mahler made outside of the Austro-Hungarian
border.
It's a quote that could equally be applied to Anglo-Italian
Antonio Pappano, whose magnificently colourful account of Mahler's
Symphony No. 1 in the second half of this concert drew an
inspired response from the orchestra and brought a proportion of
the audience to its feet in Symphony Hall.
Pappano's mere presence in front of the orchestra seemed to ignite
its Italian passion, drawing a sound that was uniquely theirs as
its bloom and hues of burnished gold called to mind the Roman sun
that has been an ever present part of the orchestra's existence
since its inception in 1885.
Given that the orchestra's tour was in honour of the 150th
Anniversary of Italian unification the inclusion of music by Verdi
was almost a must, although his Aida Sinfonia is a rarity
indeed, not having been given its first public performance until
thirty-nine years after the composer's death by Toscanini and the
NBC Symphony Orchestra.
If evidence were needed of the gloriously individual sound of this
orchestra, it was there from the opening bars, the fragile yet
beguiling sound of the high violins, the warmth that emanated from
the woodwind and the sonority of the string section as a whole
seemingly magnified by the layout of basses high to the left and
cellos to the centre.
Although only ten minutes long the Sinfonia exists on the
level of a symphonic poem, imbued with the tension, drama and
atmosphere of Verdi's Egyptian inspired epic, condensed into a
span that makes for an unusual yet appropriate concert opener.
Pappano's harnessing of that drama and tension made for a a
compelling listening experience and one which was to be replicated
in the Liszt and Mahler that followed.
Russian Boris Berezovsky has been with the Orchestra throughout
its short British tour and the warhorse that is Liszt's Piano
Concerto No. 1 was a vehicle perfectly suited to both his
bold musicality and substantial physical frame. Berezovsky plays
with an almost complete absence of gestural histrionics, his body
rarely moving as he powered his way with magnificent weight and
purpose through the outer movements. Yet as a result the stark
contrast of the Quasi Adagio proved to be all the more impressive,
with the pianist's sensitivity and nuance of colour and shade
marking his playing out as a shining example of textural control
and contrast.
Pappano's "Titan" cleansed the soul like a breath of
fresh alpine air; invigorating, bitter-sweet, joyous and
ultimately life affirming, the beauty of the sound Pappano drew
from his forces was a thing of wonder, directed with understated
yet always compelling gestures in the third movement and clear,
intensely focused precision and communicative clarity in the
stormy Finale. The woodwind
fanfares of the opening movement were treated with gossamer-like
delicacy by the orchestra, whilst the offstage trumpets came into
their own in magnificent fashion in the radiant coda to the final
movement where the brass section of the orchestra was revealed in
its full majestic glory, the horns rising to their feet for the
closing paragraphs. The emotional extremities of Mahler's music
were achieved with an intensity that burnt from within,
complimented by shaping and phrasing of the music in the Funeral
March that left no doubt as to Pappano's credentials as a
conductor of Mahler.
With an almost essential taste of Rossini and William Tell,
the Intermezzo from Manon Lescaut and the
Thunder and Lightning Polka, the euphoric audience was
treated to no less than three encores before Antonio Pappano
eventually conceded that he must leave, only to appear for an
autograph signing session in the foyer ten minutes later.
If the anniversary of Italian
unification inspires music making of this quality, maybe it should
be celebrated on an annual basis.
Christopher Thomas