John Storgårds conductor; Tobias Feldmann violin: Sibelius Pohjola’s Daughter; Sofia Gubaidulina ‘In Tempus Praesens’ for violin and orchestra; Einojuhani Rautavaara Symphony No. 7, ‘Angel of Light’
This was a very stimulating and worthwhile evening. It was entitled ‘an evening of Finnish wonder’, which is a bit dismissive of the Gubaidulina piece, which comes from a very different tradition.
In a sense this was a traditional overture, concerto and symphony concert, with the Gubaidulina piece as the concerto, and with elements of spirituality connected with the second and third pieces.
It’s some time since I’ve been in the Bridgewater Hall (probably not since the Elgar oratorios in June) and after doses of the RAH and the Barbican, plus cavernous churches, it was wonderful to hear the clarity and warmth of the orchestral sound in the Bridgewater Hall. And the BBC Philharmonic sounded in very good form, particularly in the only work here I know at all well, the Sibelius. I thought the orchestra and Storgårds did wonderfully well in projecting the colours and drama of this music, with some very fine woodwind and horn playing and quite lush sounding strings.
The Gubaidulina piece is challenging but not inaccessible. I enjoyed it rather more than Offertorium which I heard a few years ago, another solo violin pitted against a big orchestra, as I recall. In this case it was a big orchestra without violins, with the other strings in full complement and a large brass and heavy percussion section, emphasising therefore the contrast between the sweetness and lightness of the solo violin and the darkness of the orchestra. The starkness and slowness of the piece sounded to me grounded in Russian Orthodoxy. The piece is about half an hour long and in an unbroken succession of contrasting episodes, the soloist and orchestra being pitted against one another – almost like an individual soul against some external force. The violin seems to lead at first with the full orchestra responding, successive climaxes being rounded off with a great gong crash, but about two thirds of the way through the violin sounds as though it is struggling against violence and there are some loud drum rhythms. There’s then an extended violin solo and you feel the orchestral response changing, culminating in an enormous major chord, sounding like some resolution of differences. The music then dies away. I found this to be an absorbing piece and I will try to listen to it again on I-Player – it’s not easy but I did find my attention held. Tobias Feldmann played I thought sensationally well.
I felt less positive about the Rautavaara piece, though I am a bit more familiar with it. If you were being cynical – perish the thought! – you could describe it as taking a dash of Sibelius, mixing in Mahler and Bruckner and ‘holy minimalism’ plus a bit of Hollywood film music, and coming up with something that is easy enough to listen to, but not gripping in the same way as the Gubaidulina piece. It is more static, less of a journey and too often the mood is a bit unvaried, though the 2nd movement has, as Rautavaara himself puts it in the programme notes, a “violent force”. Rautavaara clearly feels from his notes that this piece does represent a journey, but I have to say I didn’t feel it was a terribly gripping one.
Both works were well-received by a surprisingly full Bridgewater Hall, and excellently played by the BBC Phil (odd though that Storgårds didn’t split 1st and 2nd violins across the stage in the Rautavaara piece).
As an added bonus, there was a pre-performance half hour or so of songs given by the RNCM Songsters, a specially selected group of students at the RNCM – singers and pianists – who are passionate about, and excel in the performance of art song. This was in the foyer area. The songs were by Sibelius, Grieg, Delius, R.Strauss, Elgar and Quilter. I particularly enjoyed the performance by Siân Davies, a mezzo
John's musical journey 