Incredibly this was the third consecutive CBSO concert
I have attended that has been subject to a last minute change of soloist,
in this case Christopher Maltman replacing the indisposed Sarah Connolly
in Mahler’s Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. Hopefully the orchestra
are not taking it too personally!
Sadly, another striking feature for all the wrong reasons
was the disappointing audience turn out, strange given a highly appetising
programme with the added attraction of Mackerras conducting his beloved
Janácek. The cost of Christmas looming perhaps?
It was Janácek that Mackerras opened with in
the shape of the orchestral suite from The Cunning Little
Vixen, not as is often the case in Vaclav Talich’s orchestration
but, unusually, in the composer’s own, perhaps accounting for Mackerras
using a score in a work that he otherwise must know like the back of
his hand. Being so used to the Talich, my first impression was of how
much "softer" his orchestration is than that of the composer.
Janácek’s own scoring is pointed, characteristically skilful
in its use of effect and at times strikingly original. Whether I would
want to abandon the familiarity of the Talich however in favour of the
less frequently heard "original" will take further listening
to decide. Initially the orchestra did not seem entirely at ease with
the brisk, crisp opening tempo adopted by Mackerras, the ensemble not
always being as one in the violins at the very opening. In comparison,
the second movement brought playing of radiance, the orchestra settling
into Mackerras’s economical yet gently authoritative manner.
I have often admired Christopher Maltman for his sensitive
and considered performances of lieder, not perhaps the most powerful
of voices but memorable for the care and attention to nuance that I
have frequently found in his singing. This was very much how he came
across in the four delightful Mahler songs that comprise Lieder eines
fahrenden Gesellen. There were moments when it seemed that it was
quite a struggle for Maltman to penetrate through the sound of the orchestra
but it hardly detracted from a performance that was full of character,
touching in the opening and closing songs, intense in the dark passion
of the third song, Ich hab ein glühend Messer and beautifully
accompanied by the orchestra in Ging heut morgen übers Feld.
If there was a highlight of the evening however, it
was undoubtedly the performance of Debussy’s Prélude à
l’après-midi d’un faune that opened the second half. Mackerras
could hardly have drawn more sumptuous, limpid, languid and above all
sensual playing from the orchestra. There were wonderful contributions
from individual players but it was in the luxuriousness of the sound
coupled with the delicate shaping of the phrases that Mackerras, again
in his typically understated way, kept me riveted with throughout. Shame
on the member of the audience who applauded before the sumptuous closing
sounds had settled. This was a tough act to follow and the performance
of Images that came next never quite reached the same heights
of rapture. Gigues was the most successful of the pieces, capturing
an atmospheric Keel Row through the mist, yet Ibéria seemed
to lack the same level of stylistic characterisation, notably in the
final Le matin d’un jour de fête, where the Spanish guitar
tunes and garish woodwind solos were just that little bit too within
themselves. The vigour of Rondes de Printemps was more successful
yet coming away from the concert I was happy to content myself with
the intriguing prospect of further exploration of Janácek’s own
Vixen suite and the warmth of a memorable Prélude à
l’après-midi d’un faune.
Christopher Thomas.
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