RSNO, 27/05/2017
Sibelius : Incidental music from Kuolema
Mahler : Rückert-Lieder (Jennifer Johnston, mezzo-soprano)
Beethoven : Leonora Overture No. 3
Sibelius : Symphony No. 5
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård
Judging from the applause that greeted Thomas Søndergård tonight, the rest of the audience was as pleased as I was at the news that he is to go from being the RSNO's Principal Guest Conductor to its full-time Music Director, from the '18-'19 season. I may have kvetched a little last time about always finding Beethoven and/or Mahler in his concert programmes, but there are worse things to find on a programme, and the standard of interpretation is usually more than satisfactory. At any rate, the announcement was very welcome, and I look forward to seeing what he can bring to a full concert season.
In the meantime, yes, more Mahler and Beethoven, framed by Sibelius, and a programme very much of two halves, starting with Sibelius in aquarelle mode, all melancholy demi-tints for extracts from his incidental music to Kuolema, including the enigmatically titled (and no less enigmatic in content) "Scene with Cranes", and the far better known "Valse triste". Along with the "Canzonetta", these are all quiet, muted pieces, with brief flashes of colour, very nicely judged, and the "Valse triste", in particular, well paced, neither funereally slow, nor too febrile, but somehow inexorable without heaviness.
Jennifer Johnston has a fine mezzo voice, large, secure, warm in timbre and easy throughout the register. Her diction was good, and her presentation simple and straightforward. Yet there is still some work to be done to really get inside these "Rückert-Lieder", which were cleanly delivered but not entirely inhabited. The fourth, "Liebst du um Schönheit", showed, for a moment, that little extra something you want to hear in lieder, a shade more detail in the phrasing, in the colour of the words, and that carried partially through to the last, sublime song of the set. Yet I have heard Baker, and Lott, and Ludwig all sing these songs, and tonight, despite a very good effort from the orchestra, I had not forgotten how to breathe by the end, which is what I expect from a truly outstanding performance. However, the potential is, I think, there.
My experiences of Söndergård's Beethoven have been a bit hit-and-miss to date. Sometimes he's as brilliant as he can be in other music, sometimes it's missing the divine spark. The second half of tonight's programme was obviously going to be a much more energetic affair, given the choice of music, and should have got off to a cracking start with the Leonora No. 3 Overture. Yet despite much carefully considered shading, the reading never truly caught fire, and the interpretation overall was correct but, frankly, tame, which is the last thing you want for this paean to liberty.
No such difficulties in the Sibelius 5. From the very first notes, the distinctive tone qualities of both strings and brass were firmly in place, atmospheric and evocative of cool, pine-scented breezes, of the contrasts between deep forests and open skies. This too, in its own way, is a hymn to freedom, but that of Nature, not of man, and Søndergård knew exactly how and when to tantalise and when to lay it all out to be seen. Sibelius's swans truly took flight in the last movement, and lifted our spirits with them.
[Next : 7th June]
Mahler : Rückert-Lieder (Jennifer Johnston, mezzo-soprano)
Beethoven : Leonora Overture No. 3
Sibelius : Symphony No. 5
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Thomas Søndergård
Judging from the applause that greeted Thomas Søndergård tonight, the rest of the audience was as pleased as I was at the news that he is to go from being the RSNO's Principal Guest Conductor to its full-time Music Director, from the '18-'19 season. I may have kvetched a little last time about always finding Beethoven and/or Mahler in his concert programmes, but there are worse things to find on a programme, and the standard of interpretation is usually more than satisfactory. At any rate, the announcement was very welcome, and I look forward to seeing what he can bring to a full concert season.
In the meantime, yes, more Mahler and Beethoven, framed by Sibelius, and a programme very much of two halves, starting with Sibelius in aquarelle mode, all melancholy demi-tints for extracts from his incidental music to Kuolema, including the enigmatically titled (and no less enigmatic in content) "Scene with Cranes", and the far better known "Valse triste". Along with the "Canzonetta", these are all quiet, muted pieces, with brief flashes of colour, very nicely judged, and the "Valse triste", in particular, well paced, neither funereally slow, nor too febrile, but somehow inexorable without heaviness.
Jennifer Johnston has a fine mezzo voice, large, secure, warm in timbre and easy throughout the register. Her diction was good, and her presentation simple and straightforward. Yet there is still some work to be done to really get inside these "Rückert-Lieder", which were cleanly delivered but not entirely inhabited. The fourth, "Liebst du um Schönheit", showed, for a moment, that little extra something you want to hear in lieder, a shade more detail in the phrasing, in the colour of the words, and that carried partially through to the last, sublime song of the set. Yet I have heard Baker, and Lott, and Ludwig all sing these songs, and tonight, despite a very good effort from the orchestra, I had not forgotten how to breathe by the end, which is what I expect from a truly outstanding performance. However, the potential is, I think, there.
My experiences of Söndergård's Beethoven have been a bit hit-and-miss to date. Sometimes he's as brilliant as he can be in other music, sometimes it's missing the divine spark. The second half of tonight's programme was obviously going to be a much more energetic affair, given the choice of music, and should have got off to a cracking start with the Leonora No. 3 Overture. Yet despite much carefully considered shading, the reading never truly caught fire, and the interpretation overall was correct but, frankly, tame, which is the last thing you want for this paean to liberty.
No such difficulties in the Sibelius 5. From the very first notes, the distinctive tone qualities of both strings and brass were firmly in place, atmospheric and evocative of cool, pine-scented breezes, of the contrasts between deep forests and open skies. This too, in its own way, is a hymn to freedom, but that of Nature, not of man, and Søndergård knew exactly how and when to tantalise and when to lay it all out to be seen. Sibelius's swans truly took flight in the last movement, and lifted our spirits with them.
[Next : 7th June]