Sooner or later, Arcana’s Sunday serenade series had to arrive at the most famous one of them all – Mozart‘s Serenade no.13 in G major, known universally as Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.
The work was written for string quintet in 1787, but expands beautifully for string orchestra, as demonstrated in this version from the Wiener Philharmoniker and Karl Böhm. As is so often the case with Mozart, its beauty lies in simplicity, with memorable tunes that are developed with a pure musical instinct:
Ravel Ma mère l’Oye – suite (1910-11) Mozart Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat, K595 (1790-91) Holmès La Nuit et de l’Amour (1888) Mussorgsky arr. Wood Pictures at an Exhibition (1874, orch. 1915)
Paul Lewis (piano, above), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Kazuki Yamada
Royal Albert Hall, London Thursday 22 August 2024
reviewed by Ben Hogwood Photos (c) Sisi Burn
A colourful Prom from the CBSO this year, reaching a deafening climax with Proms founder Sir Henry Wood’s arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures At An Exhibition. More of that anon, but the orchestra, under principal conductor Kazuki Yamada, began with music by Ravel – whose orchestration of the Mussorgsky we tend to hear.
Mother Goose was cool to the touch but given a winning performance, Ravel’s colours spread across the orchestra as the music came to life. The CBSO strings were elegant and refined, leaving the starry moments to the woodwind, who excelled – particularly the gruff contrabassoon in Conversation of Beauty and the Beast, winningly played by Margaret Cookhorn. The hues of the closing The fairy garden were ideal, too – though Yamada’s decision to bring the music to a near standstill before the final, wondrous tune won’t have been to all tastes, no matter how skilfully it was achieved.
Elegance was the watchword for Paul Lewis’s Mozart, too – a thoughtful and graceful account of the composer’s last piano concerto, published in his final year but thought to have begun three years prior. This is Mozart in relatively subdued form, but still cracking a smile in the attractive first movement. Soloist and orchestra took a little while to align within the Royal Albert Hall acoustic, but once they did the first movement dialogue, complete with Mozart’s own cadenza, was fluent and balletic. The slow movement lullaby was a treat, Lewis with stylish phrasing of the melodies, while the finale enjoyed its lightfooted dance, a theme so simple and yet so memorable; classic Mozart.
Following the interval we heard the brief but romantic La Nuit et de l’Amour by Augusta Holmès, a pupil of César Franck whose music was appearing at the Proms for the first time. It was a charming miniature with a memorable tune, whose presence shone through. It acted as an upbeat to Sir Henry Wood’s arrangement of Mussorgsky’s tour through the gallery, a version predating the celebrated Ravel by seven years.
Unlike the Frenchman, Wood goes for broke on several occasions during Pictures At An Exhibition. His decision to include only the first Promenade, where Mussorgsky describes his observer walking around the exhibition, means the pictures are a little squashed together, but in this performance the dramatic impact was heightened. Gnomus was frankly terrifying, while The Old Castle was headed by a sensitive and touching euphonium solo; Becky Smith projecting beautifully from the gallery.
Wood’s version is brassy on occasion, and the CBSO players excelled – as did the wind and percussion, whose unpredictable interventions had the audience jumping on several occasions! They were a feature of Bydlo, the old carriage rumbling into action with all its bells rattling, the lower strings and brass in deep toil. Nothing quite prepared the throng for the final Great Gate of Kiev, however – not even the sinister outlines of the preceding Baba Yaga. The gate itself came slowly into view, the toll of the nine bells of the Liverpool Philharmonic bells up in the gallery both solemn and unexpectedly chilling. Soon all notions of reserve were brushed aside, however, Wood’s orchestration demanding the nine bells at full volume – delivered in a brilliant peal from the gallery by Graham Johns. However – from the arena at least – they did rather swamp the combined forces of the orchestra and organ, who were barely audible at times.
Excesses like these no doubt helped Emerson Lake and Palmer in their decision to arrange Pictures for rock group in 1971 – and certainly had a positive impact on the Proms audience, who were thrilled by the drama and the sheer volume. So too was Yamada, who had already been dancing on the podium, but as the Gate reached its tremendous conclusion he pivoted to urge the audience into applause, long before the final chord had rung out. How refreshing to see a conductor living in the moment, reading the occasion and the audience, and crowning a memorable Prom with shattering, exhilarating noise.
The playlist below collects the music from this concert, including the only available recording of the arrangement of Pictures At An Exhibition by Sir Henry Wood:
Paul Lewis (piano, above), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Kazuki Yamada
Ravel Ma mère l’Oye – suite (1910-11) Mozart Piano Concerto No. 27 in B flat, K595 (1790-91) Holmès La Nuit et de l’Amour (1888) Mussorgsky arr. Wood Pictures at an Exhibition (1874, orch. 1915)
Symphony Hall, Birmingham Wednesday 21 August 2024
Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse
Although the CBSO has not put on its own Proms season for many years, a concert featuring the programme for its annual Proms appearance has been a regular fixture and this evening’s event proved to be much more than merely a ‘dry run’ for tomorrow’s Royal Albert Hall date.
Despite the timing, this was indeed the suite as orchestrated by Ravel from his Mother Goose piano duets before being expanded into a ballet. It took a while to get going – Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty feeling impassive and Little Tom Thumb enervated, yet Laideronette had the requisite playfulness. Conversations of Beauty and the Beast was ideally poised between whimsy and pathos, before The Enchanted Garden concluded this sequence with an inward rapture made more so thanks to its exquisite contribution from leader EugeneTzikindelean.
Paul Lewis must have played Mozart’s 27th Piano Concerto on innumerable occasions (and several times with the CBSO) but his perspective constantly varies. The opening movement had a spaciousness resulting in an unusually moderate Allegro, albeit never at the expense of a subtly incremental intensity unerringly sustained through to a cadenza of limpid eloquence. Even finer was the Larghetto – dependent, as with much of Mozart’s late music, on what the performer brings to it; here yielding a serenity informed by not a little fatalism. After which the finale provided an ideal complement in its buoyancy and unforced humour, leading into a cadenza (how fortunate Mozart’s own have survived) of pensive understatement, then a coda launched with a guileless interplay of soloist and string that set the seal on this performance.
Opening the second half was Augusta Holmès’s La Nuit et l’Amour – actually, an interlude from Ludus pro Patria, her ‘Ode-Symphonie’ which, even if it might not sustain the present piece’s enfolding passion, should certainly be worth at least a one-off hearing in its entirety.
In Henry Wood’s orchestration, Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition proved a highlight of last season. Wood retains only the first appearance of the Promenade but is not unfaithful to the original’s essence. Hence the shock-horror of Gnomus, sombre aura of The Old Castle with its baleful euphonium, playful insistence of The Tuileries or fatalistic tread of Bydlo with its evocative percussion. The whimsical Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks contrasts with the grim realism of Samuel Goldberg and Schmuÿle or the frantic bustle of The Market at Limoges.
Respighi surely took note of this glowering Catacombs with its plangent recollection of the promenade refrain hardly less effective than in Ravel, and while Baba Yaga is unnecessarily curtailed here, its sudden dispersal more than prepares for the crescendo of offstage bells that launches The Great Gate[s] of Kiev. This set the tone for a realization which, if its opulence borders on overkill, could not prevent the CBSO from projecting Wood’s cinematic sonics to the maximum. Those present once again erupted during that echoing resonance at its close.
Quite a way, then, to end an impressive performance and memorable concert. Kazuki Yamada and the orchestra will be doing it all over again tomorrow evening at their Prom, at which this orchestration of the Mussorgsky will be heard in the environs as envisaged by its orchestrator.
The playlist below collects the music from this concert, including the only available recording of the arrangement of Pictures At An Exhibition by Sir Henry Wood:
Ark Zead is an artist shrouded in mystery. Nothing is known about the composer – other than Glacial Movements head Alessandro Tedeschi taking delivery of ‘seven ethereal soundclouds that drastically lowered the temperature by several degrees’.
From Ark Zead themselves: “I am a gong and Tibetan singing bowls player, interested in vibes in a very usual way. But I felt inspired when I faced the very hostile cold in Canada. I looked for stories about exploring these lands and the people who live there. I then modified my vibe sounds with computers and synthesizers to describe the state of isolationism you have to reach to enjoy the beauty of the true North.”
What’s the music like?
In a word, chilly! The right conditions are needed to experience the best of Ark Zead – an environment where you can hear as much of the audio spectrum as possible, taking advantage of some of the low bass drones that characterise this music, and also the subtlety of movement that takes place. The press release says as much: It is highly recommended to listen to Niptaktuk at night, in a quiet environment.
The music is incredibly cold to the touch – the icy wind that blows through Unnuaq chills the bone, and shows this music as equal parts ambient and unnerving. At times there is consonant harmony, but elsewhere there is slight but lasting discord that creates a heavy atmosphere, laden with dread.
The gong and singing bowls are used to great effect on Sikinik, while by contrast Båken Nunatak is laden with thick ambience. A vast wind is summoned on the title track. Ultimately this is music of greatly immersive ambience, a chance for the listener to put all else aside and lose themselves in the slow but inexorable progressions crafted by the composer.
Does it all work?
It does – especially if you are familiar with the Glacial Movements output, as that will help prepare you for the intensity of ambience that Ark Zead achieves.
Is it recommended?
Yes. Ark Zead is able to describe the weather in musical terms, with sounds so cold you can barely feel your fingers. A truly immersive experience, and one that is both cleansing and disarming in equal measure. Just like the cold.
For fans of… Loscil, Machinefabriek, Tim Hecker, Stars of the Lid
published by Ben Hogwood, with text appropriated from the press release
Nonesuch Records releases Jeremy Denk’s Ives Denk on October 18. The pianist, known as a champion of Charles Ives, is acclaimed for his performances of the great American composer’s works. Ives Denk, released in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Ives’ birth, features the composer’s four violin sonatas, performed with violinist Stefan Jackiw, as well as remastered versions of his Sonatas No. 1 and 2 for piano, from Denk’s 2010 debut recording, Jeremy Denk Plays Ives. ‘In the Barn’, the second movement of Sonata No. 2 for violin and piano, is available to download and can be listened to here:
In his liner note, Denk says that Ives’ “deepest dream was to create an original musical style, a fresh and uniquely American voice. He achieved this. But it was a voice most didn’t want to hear, and still don’t. He is one of history’s least popular populists … Ives’ writing – especially the later ones, when he was in terrible physical decline – are… often unhinged with anger, full of mean-spirited nicknames and simplistic binaries, they reflect some of the worst angles of America. One thing that saves Ives’ music from these dangers is his sense of humour, and his willingness to embrace failure.”
“If there is one piece that sums up for me Ives’ difficult virtues, it is the slow movement of the first violin sonata, a jagged musical reflection on the Civil War, so eerily relevant now, with America split into red-blue madness. It is interesting to compare this kind of piece, profound yet unloved, with the far more identifiably American voice of Aaron Copland … Ives is optimistic but always messy, always falling apart at the seams. His music suggests America will just have to muddle through, and wrestle with its own failure. At this particular historical moment, Ives seems to be more right than ever.”
“‘In the Barn’ is a joyful disaster,” Denk says of the second sonata movement, above. “It starts with country fiddling, slips slyly into urban ragtime, and as time passes, every imaginable genre makes a cameo – overheated Wagnerian Romanticism, fashionable exoticism, a dizzying tour of the early twentieth century musical world.”
Ives / Denk will contain the following repertoire:
Violin Sonata no.4 ‘Children’s Day at the Camp Meeting’ Violin Sonata no.3 Violin Sonata no.2 Violin Sonata no.1 Piano Sonata no.1 Piano Sonata no.2 ‘Concord, Mass., 1840-1860’
Published post no.2,277 – Wednesday 21 August 2024
Arcana.fm 