Respighi, Fountains of Rome, Szymanowski Violin Concerto No.2, Brahms Symphony No.2. Sir Mark Elder conductor, Nicola Benedetti violin.
This was my first time in the Sheffield City Hall since a rather dispiriting concert in June. That had been a rather dismal occasion – the audience only just more in number than the assembled musicians and choirs for Belshazzar’s Feast and lots of grumbles from the audience as to how various ticketing problems had been handled by the management. It seemed as though the Halle might have better things to do than visit Sheffield 5 or 6 times a year, I thought
But less than a year later there we were at the same hall with a 90% full attendance and an enthusiastic reception. Part of that might have been Nicola Benedetti, who’s clearly something of a role model and heroine for all the young violinists of Sheffield – there were lots of young people with their parents, and Sheffield Music Academy and Music Hub tee shirts. Part of it might have been Mark Elders presence, who the audience had told the City Hall management last year they never saw when the Halle visited. Whatever – it was a very welcome transformation.
And it was a very good concert! I suppose I must have heard The Fountains of Rome before, though I can’t remember doing so. Its thematic material is a bit bland, but it is undeniably well scored and all the water music is fun. It sounded very well played, though with that degree of orchestral complexity it’s difficult to be sure. The Szymanowski was not quite what I was expecting – I had assumed something like Bartok but it sounded more like Bax, and had the same sort of rather dense grinding harmonies. There was a big tune though! I got a bit lost in the structure but undoubtedly, to the extent I could tell, Nicola B played it very well, with lots of variation of tone and colour.
The Brahms 2 I really enjoyed. It sounded a bit akin to someone opening up a beautifully coloured illustrated child’s story book and reading through it at not too fast a pace, but not too slow either, turning the pages at just the right pace to be absorbed by the beauty of the illustrations but not lose the momentum of the plot! Partly perhaps Elder’s doing, partly the unlovely acoustics of the City Hall, I heard far more of the inner parts than I normally do – as a footnote a reviewer of the Manchester performance of the same works with the same team suggested that Elder had slimmed down the basses and the violins as in his performances with the Britten Sinfonia, which would explain the greater clarity of the inner parts. The first movement seemed strangely long, not because the repeat was taken but because I was listening far more than usual to the harmonies and the shifts of key. It also sounded much darker, in the first and second movements, than I normally am aware of (the word ‘sunny’ is often used about this work, but what I heard yesterday was far from sunny, some towering and grim climaxes, an oppressive sense of angst. The Halle played beautifully, particularly the first horn, Laurence Rogers. One extraordinary thing – somehow I have listened to this piece for at least 55 years without realising that the lower strings subject in the first movement is a minor version of the famous ‘Brahms Lullaby’ – this was in a programme note and I had never realised before……….
A really absorbing and enjoyable evening!!
John's musical journey 