Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra (live streaming), 05/11/2020

Wagner : Tannhäuser - Overture
Wagner : Tannhäuser - "Dich, teure Halle" *
Wagner : Tannhäuser - "Allmächt'ge Jungfrau" *
Wagner : Tristan und Isolde - Prelude and Liebestod *
Strauss : "Cäcilie"
Strauss : Le bourgeois gentilhomme - Suite


*Nina Stemme, soprano
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Karina Canellakis
Today being Guy Fawkes Day, it became imperative to listen to this concert through the earphones, to cut out as much as possible the snap, crackle and pop of fireworks and, really, if there's one composer who really repays being totally immersed in the orchestra, it's Wagner.  The Tannhäuser Overture was a little disrupted at my end, unavoidably, but once I was able to concentrate on it, I wasn't completely transported by it.  "Dich, teure Halle", on the other hand, hit just the right note from its breathless, elated introduction, and Nina Stemme's soaring voice completed the picture.  The second extract, Elizabeth's prayer from Act 3, is less often performed separately, but again, Stemme was a clear and fervent interpreter.  Things stepped up a notch, all the same, for the extracts from Tristan.  The Prelude was delivered with a quietly concentrated burn of emotion, complete in itself, yet also a true introduction to Stemme's ecstatic, enthralling Liebestod, delivered with a kind of self-evident simplicity and utter assurance.  As an encore, and a taster before the second half, Stemme performed Strauss's Cäcilie, bold and joyous.

Nina Stemme, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
5th November 2020 (screenshot)


The second half of the concert had just one work, Strauss's Suite drawn from the incidental music for Le bourgeois gentilhomme.  This is one of Strauss's most inspired works, a wonderfully orchestrated neo-Baroque pastiche, bubbling over with good humour, tenderness and mischief.  With only a little over thirty players in the orchestra, there are so many opportunities for the spotlight to pick out individual musicians, the leader most of all, but all sections had their moments, finely judged by the orchestra and Canellakis.  After the rich intensity of Wagner, this was a perfectly calculated, lightly tart soufflé by contrast, a delicious palate cleanser, bright, charming and very nicely delivered.

[Next : 10th November]

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