Leonard Slatkin’s all-Russian
programme with the BBC Symphony Orchestra began with a glowing account
of Modest Musorgsky’s Khovanshchina – Prelude. This was an eloquent
and sensitive performance, with the BBC SO’s seductive phrasing enhancing
a magical sense of distilled calm at dawn: rarely have I heard this
conductor and orchestra in such close and sympathetic rapport.
Christian Tetzlaff’s urgent, intense
and insightful interpretation of Dimitry Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto
no.1 in A minor was central to this Prom’s success. Tetzlaff’s intoxicating
tone in the opening Nocturne had a mysteriously opaque, yet distant,
quality, so right for this movement. His playing came into focus in
the Scherzo where he produced a rugged, gutsy style - perfectly
complemented by the dancing, biting woodwinds.
The Cadenza was a knife-edge
experience and his razor-sharp, yet highly refined, tone seemed to float
the nerve-edged notes between sound and silence. The finale was taken
at a pace verging on hysteria, but Tetzlaff remained in total command,
producing remarkable playing from his modern, German made Peter Greiner
instrument.
What makes this violinist unique
is his contradiction of sounds: he can be both sensational and subdued,
intense but reserved. While his Shostakovich is on the fast side, this
was Tetzlaff’s own reading, stripped of rhetorical excess: his sparseness
and subtlety are his strengths of expression. This was extraordinary
artistry, further enhanced by the sympathetic support from Slatkin and
the BBC SO.
The final offering of one hour
of excerpts from Sergey Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet - (1935-6,
rev. 1940) was for the most part a routine run-through with some uninspired,
not to say mediocre playing. The Dance of the Knights lacked
swagger, but the Balcony Scene and Love Dance had all
the lyrical sweep one could have asked for. A novelty was some sprightly
music from a mandolin quartet in Act 2, Dance With Mandolins,
which was poetically played; it is a pity that this is often omitted
from concert ‘highlights’.
The acid test for both conductors
and orchestras in this score is the Death of Tybalt. This was
not a great performance of it: excepting some incisive timpani, it lacked
panache and the brass and strings missed the savagery so palpable in
the music. Both Slatkin and orchestra were at their best in the two
closing sections: Juliet’s Funeral and Juliet’s Death
where we heard some very solemn string playing and fragile, poignant
phrasing.
While Slatkin has done some fine
work with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (during the late seventies
and early eighties, including exciting live performances of Edgar Varese's
Integrals and Nielsen’s 5th Symphony)
his tenure with the BBC SO has too often been uninspiring, routine and
disappointing. This concert was largely a perfect example of that.
Alex Russell
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