CBSO, 07/10/2021

Mozart : Idomeneo - Overture

Britten : Violin Concerto

Beethoven : Symphony No. 6 "Pastoral"

James Ehnes, violin

City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra

Finnegan Downie Dear

One of the interesting things about the Overture to Idomeneo is the sense of the buckle closing; although it was far from Mozart's first opera, it is generally considered the first of the 'mature' operas, those that hold their place on the world's stages to this day.  It was a commission from a major principality, with a high-minded opera seria libretto, and the music has a ceremonial feel to it, notably the Overture.  Ten years later, La Clemenza di Tito closes the loop, written for the coronation of Leopold II as King of Hungary, with a high-minded, opera seria libretto and quite ceremonially minded music, notably the overture.  (We usually call Die Zauberflöte the last opera, but it was almost complete when the commission for Tito arrived, and it's only because it was first performed afterwards that it's called the last).  One wants to hear much the same grandeur, and they are fairly similar in form.  Idomeneo, however, is more closely related to the ensuing opera, and its quiet ending is in an unexpected key, which is in fact that of the opening scene of the opera, and it's a little unsettling in concert.  However, it set a mood for the rest of the concert, for a voyage towards resolution.

The Britten Violin Concerto is an early work, one of the first he completed in America, and which was premiered there.  It deserves to be better known, but I think that the very strong influence of Prokofiev, which is undeniable, may have held appreciation of it back.  One of the great strengths of this afternoon's performance was that Finnegan Downie Dear managed to mute that influence quite substantially.  It was still there, it cannot be hidden, but the frantic Scherzo of the second movement really sounded more like Britten for once.  The final Passacaglia was also beautifully shaped, built up from a discreet start to a passionate climax, and the orchestral colours well exploited throughout.  The other great strength was James Ehnes, who played with an aching sweetness of tone and a singing line, the virtuosity of the solo part, even in the cadenza, sublimated to the lyricism of the music, right to the last, vanishing trills.

Beethoven's great song of renewal that is the Sixth Symphony is such a fitting work for the present times, and Downie Dear's reading was clear and frank, without over-indulging at any point.  The storm crept up a little unnoticed, but the slow movement moved along nicely, while the first romped in jolly mood.  The last, though, was that rainbow, the promise, the rebirth, as designed, deep breaths of clean air, and a sense of peace that endures even after you have left the hall.

[Next : 7th October, part 2]