BBCSSO, 18/01/2018
Debussy : Prélude à L'après-midi d'un faune
Mozart : Concerto for Two Pianos, K. 365 (Lucas & Arthur Jussen, pianos)
Tippett : Symphony No. 4
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins
The lush, intoxicating sound-world of the Debussy's Faune does indeed tempt one to linger as the Faun does in the heat of the afternoon, but there are limits that an orchestra and conductor should not exceed. Brabbins and the BBCSSO began tonight's concert with a particularly languishing reading, to the point that at moments the music lost whatever forward momentum it possesses, and seemed to disaggregate into a lovely but pointless wash of sound.
My initial impression of the Mozart concerto was not a lot better; I thought the first pages of the orchestral introduction a little ponderous. However, this was a passing issue, and by the time the pianos came into play, the texture had lightened, both in weight and in colour. Lucas and Arthur Jussen are twentysomething - early twentysomething - Dutch brothers, and already have well over a decade of performance practice behind them. They certainly played this concerto as a well-oiled tandem, Mozart's ribbons of thematic material passed seamlessly back and forward between the two instruments like an intricate and beautiful cat's cradle. While the concerto is not perhaps a summit of Mozart's output, it lacks neither charm or wit, and the Jussen brothers are evidently very fond of it, taking full advantage of the playful and airy outer movements, and delivering the central Andante with true elegance.
Created for and by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its then Principal Conductor, Georg Solti, Tippett's 4th and last symphony is a single, extended movement, roughly divisible into four "movements" separated by three intermediary passages. There is actually a formal structure to it, but I certainly couldn't grasp it, and it would probably take several repeated hearings for me to be able to truly identify Tippett's intentions. It's a work of violent contrasts, with strong oppositions of forces and dynamics, not to mention the integration of a recorded element, described as breathing, which marks the piece as a voyage from birth to death, the sound (once a tape, now a sampled track) particularly prominent at the start and finish - indeed, the work ends on a last, unaccompanied sigh of breath. For all the voluntary clashes of instrumental textures, Tippett's orchestral sound is fundamentally quite lyrical, something the orchestra and Brabbins brought well to the fore.
[Next : 19th January]
Mozart : Concerto for Two Pianos, K. 365 (Lucas & Arthur Jussen, pianos)
Tippett : Symphony No. 4
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Martyn Brabbins
The lush, intoxicating sound-world of the Debussy's Faune does indeed tempt one to linger as the Faun does in the heat of the afternoon, but there are limits that an orchestra and conductor should not exceed. Brabbins and the BBCSSO began tonight's concert with a particularly languishing reading, to the point that at moments the music lost whatever forward momentum it possesses, and seemed to disaggregate into a lovely but pointless wash of sound.
My initial impression of the Mozart concerto was not a lot better; I thought the first pages of the orchestral introduction a little ponderous. However, this was a passing issue, and by the time the pianos came into play, the texture had lightened, both in weight and in colour. Lucas and Arthur Jussen are twentysomething - early twentysomething - Dutch brothers, and already have well over a decade of performance practice behind them. They certainly played this concerto as a well-oiled tandem, Mozart's ribbons of thematic material passed seamlessly back and forward between the two instruments like an intricate and beautiful cat's cradle. While the concerto is not perhaps a summit of Mozart's output, it lacks neither charm or wit, and the Jussen brothers are evidently very fond of it, taking full advantage of the playful and airy outer movements, and delivering the central Andante with true elegance.
Created for and by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and its then Principal Conductor, Georg Solti, Tippett's 4th and last symphony is a single, extended movement, roughly divisible into four "movements" separated by three intermediary passages. There is actually a formal structure to it, but I certainly couldn't grasp it, and it would probably take several repeated hearings for me to be able to truly identify Tippett's intentions. It's a work of violent contrasts, with strong oppositions of forces and dynamics, not to mention the integration of a recorded element, described as breathing, which marks the piece as a voyage from birth to death, the sound (once a tape, now a sampled track) particularly prominent at the start and finish - indeed, the work ends on a last, unaccompanied sigh of breath. For all the voluntary clashes of instrumental textures, Tippett's orchestral sound is fundamentally quite lyrical, something the orchestra and Brabbins brought well to the fore.
[Next : 19th January]