This concert was a perfect example
of why Christian Thielemann is the kind of conductor you would hike
(a pastime of the maestro) a hundred miles to hear. He is never less
than a revelation, free of the shackles of period performance and one
of the few conductors able to make the Philharmonia play with the sumptuous
body of tone for which it was once famous.
His confidence in this orchestra
must be absolute because so much of this programme of French and German
music relied on the Philharmonia’s exposure to solo work – whether in
the woodwind of Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi
d’un faune (and the effortlessly beautiful flute solos of Kenneth
Smith) or in the horn solos in Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder (stunningly
played by Laurence Davies). If these individual contributions deserve
mention it is also only fair to comment on the magnificent playing the
Philharmonia produced throughout the concert; such ravishing sounds,
especially in the Debussy, were spellbinding. On this form, and with
this conductor, there is simply no more beautiful sounding orchestra
in the world.
If Mr Thielemann’s way with Prélude
à l’après-midi d’un faune is reminiscent of Karajan’s,
his La mer is more akin to a famously beautiful recording Celibidache
made in 1991. His tempi were suitably languorous in the former, which
added to the distillation of atmosphere in this work. It was magically
played with the requisite refinement of tone expanding to the sheer
rapture of the climax, immaculately controlled. La mer, with
perhaps the conductor a little more at sea than is usual in this work,
shimmered with a radiance, albeit a more mid-European one than one reminiscent
of the shores off La Manche. Noticeable was an iron control over dynamics
which allowed the wind and string sonorities to melt accordingly, never
clouded by the extravagant brass lines which close the outer movements
of this expressionist poem.
Mr Thielemann returned to using
a score after the interval, yet the performance of Strauss’ swansong
seemed anything but a copybook reading; Adrianne Pieczonka was the stand-in
soprano, but in reality anything but a stand-in. She gave a ravishing
account of these eternally meaningful songs, perhaps a little bright
of tone to give real value to some of Strauss’ darker lines, especially
at the close of Im Abendrot, but consistently lyrical in what
she sang. With her impeccable German and soaring soprano, which rose
effortlessly above the stave, and without a hint of uncomfortable vibrato,
this was a memorable performance, at least the equal of the last performance
I heard this orchestra give of these works with Renee Fleming at the
Proms in 2001.
Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel
breathed a little fire into the last minutes of the concert – although
this seemed the only time throughout the evening that Mr Thielemann
struggled to control the percussion and brass of the Philharmonia. They
all but swamped the strings. It was certainly not short on drama (his
Strauss credentials already having been proven with a glittering Don
Juan some years back with the same orchestra, and a glowing Heldenleben
with the Vienna Phil (to be released in the autumn by DG) showing him
to have a Karajanesque sympathy with this composer). Perhaps the performance
was a little too straight-laced, with that last ounce of wit held back,
but as well played as it was here it never for once ceased to impress.
Marc Bridle
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