Tag Archives: Antonin Dvořák

In concert – Simon Desbruslais, English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods: Sibelius, Sawyers, Dvořák, Fribbins & Elgar

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Simon Desbruslais (trumpet), English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods

Sibelius Rakastava Op.14 (1893, arr. 1912)
Sawyers Concerto for Trumpet, Strings and Timpani (2015)
Dvořák Notturno in B major Op.40 (1870, arr. 1883)
Fribbins Soliloquies (2012, arr. 2017)
Elgar Introduction and Allegro for strings Op.47 (1905)

Hall One, Kings Place, London
Sunday 15 April 2024

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

Concerts by the English Symphony Orchestra in the London Chamber Music Society’s season are always a worthwhile fixture and this early-evening event, in its mixing established classics with contemporary pieces, demonstrated the stylistic range and sympathies of this ensemble.

A pity that Sibelius’s Rakastava has never been taken up by many British conductors – John Barbirolli and Sir Colin Davis excepted – as this extensive reworking for strings and timpani of an early choral work should be a staple of its repertoire. Kenneth Woods duly brought out the wistful poise of The Lover, and if the stealthiness which underpins The Way of the Lover seemed just a little tentative, the bittersweet pathos that permeates Good evening, Farewell then came through unabated in what is as moving a leave-taking as its composer ever penned.

The music of Philip Sawyers has been a constant feature of the ESO’s programming this past decade, and his Trumpet Concerto more than deserved revival. The outward Classicism of its formal trajectory should not belie the deftness by which Sawyers modifies the sonata design of its opening Allegro, the impetus and reflectiveness of its main themes finding accord prior to a trenchant cadenza with timpani at the fore, or a central Andante that exuded an emotional breadth and fervour in advance of the excellent recording by these artists. Among the leading trumpeters of his generation, Simon Desbruslais – placed high to the rear of the auditorium, to potent effect – was wholly unfazed by its demands; nor those of a final Allegro in which more reflective elements leaven the initial energy, only to be outdone in the virtuosic closing bars.

Next, a welcome hearing for the Notturno that Dvořák salvaged from an early (and reckless) quartet. Its relative swiftness here recalled its intermediate reworking as an intermezzo in the second of his string quintets, so emphasizing its appealing lilt over any more ethereal quality.

Desbrulais (above) returned after a brief hiatus for Soliloquies by Peter Fribbins. A composer as adept on a symphonic as on a miniature scale, these brief if affecting pieces draw on three earlier songs – the recasting of whose vocal line encourages the soloist to an eloquence that, after the relative restraint of the initial Adagio and central Tranquillo, comes to the fore in a final Adagio where evocation takes on an almost cinematic aura. With impressive concertos for piano and violin to his credit, Fribbins ought to consider a full-length work for trumpet.

Elgar’s Introduction and Allegro has not unexpectedly been key to the ESO’s repertoire since its founding some 45 years ago, and this performance did not disappoint. Most admirable was the variety and depth of string tone that Woods (a one-time professional cellist) secured from only 19 players, so ensuring a vitality and impact in the more animated sections together with the requisite delicacy in those passages where the composer’s ruminative mood is uppermost. Both aspects were brought into thrilling accord at the close of the powerfully projected coda.

Beforehand, Woods spoke of the changing nature of commissions and the current difficulties in securing the necessary funding. This season has not been easy for the ESO though, on the basis of this programme, these players are commendably taking it all in their collective stride.

Click on the link to read more on English Symphony Orchestra, and on the names for more on their conductor Kenneth Woods, and trumpeter Simon Desbruslais. Click on the names for more on the new composers featured, Philip Sawyers and Peter Fribbins

Published post no.2,150 – Tuesday 16 April 2024

Playlist – celebrating Mother’s Day

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Today is Mothering Sunday in the UK – and here is a playlist celebrating mothers.

We begin with a touching suite for piano by Josef Suk. About Mother is dedicated not to his own mother but for his children about their mother, his wife Otilie Dvořák. Then we continue with a famous song from Suk’s father-in-law, Antonin Dvořák, Songs My Mother Taught Me.

Taking the theme a little loosely we move on to Ravel, and his delectable ballet Ma mère l’oye (Mother Goose) – evidence of the French composer’s beautiful writing for orchestra.

Finally something of an English rarity, Cecilia McDowall setting the Magnificat (the song of Mary, Mother of God) for chorus and orchestra. It is a striking piece with which to end.

I hope you enjoy!

This playlist is dedicated to the memory of my aunt, Angela – who passed away on Thursday. It is also posted in mind of her sister – my own mother Coralie (above), whose musical influence on my own life I celebrated on Arcana here.

In concert – Musicians of the English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods: Blown Away – Doolittle, Gál & Dvořák

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Musicians of the English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods

Doolittle Woodwings (2018, arr. 2021)
Gál Divertimento for Wind Octet, Op. 22 (1924)
Dvořák Serenade in D minor, B77 (1878)

Henry Sandon Hall @ Royal Porcelain Works, Worcester
Saturday 14 October 2023 (4pm)

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

Entitled Music for Humans, the coming season from the English Symphony Orchestra promises a wide array of pieces such as focus on what can be achieved through the art of communication and, conversely, what can result when that communication breaks down. This afternoon’s concert enabled the ESO woodwind (along with some of its brass and a couple of its strings) to come into its own with a varied programme as featured music from a regular ESO collaborator, one whom the orchestra has often championed and one who ranks among the greatest of any era.

It may have originated as a wind quintet, but Woodwings by Emily Doolittle (from Halifax, Nova Scotia and now based in Glasgow) proved no less effective when recast for 10-strong wind ensemble (with cello and double-bass) – songs and calls of nine Canadian birds heard over five characterful movements. These range from the playfully assertive Bobolink, via the inwardly plaintive Hermit Thrush and the quizzically engaging Winter Wren, to the cumulatively arresting Snow Goose then a Night Owls finale whose freeform evolution makes for an intriguing and enticing pay-off. First played by the ESO in Kidderminster just over two years ago, it once again provided an appealing concert-opener and certainly bodes well for the 2024-25 season, when Doolittle becomes the ESO’s Composer-in-Association.

The success of his Divertimento was a notable marker for the burgeoning career which Hans Gál enjoyed during the earlier inter-war period, and it remains among the most personable of his chamber works. ‘Intrata’ affords a keen indication of what is to come with its juxtaposing of the martial, hilarious and confiding, proceeded by the capricious exchanges of Pagliazza (inspired by the eponymous tower in Florence?) then the wistful interplay of Cavatina with Gál’s handling of wind sonority at its most beguiling. The mood turns towards the whimsical in the by no means genteel humour of Intermezzo grazioso, before the piece is rounded off with those varied character-portrayals of Pifferari – its title alluding to a group of itinerant musicians playing upon a variety of pipes, and thereby bringing matters to a diverting close.

Although less often performed than its earlier counterpart for strings, Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds (plus cello and double-bass) is arguably more indicative of where his genius lay. The martial theme of its opening Moderato is leavened by a ruminative poise that comes into its own with the minuet-like successor, its felicitous contours duly finding contrast through the animated gaiety of its Presto trio-section. The ensuing Andante is undoubtedly this work’s emotional heart – its eloquence redolent of Mozart in its understatement but also intimation of more ambivalent emotion in the ominous central stage or bittersweet fatalism at its close. From here the final Allegro steers an impulsive but also lilting course through to a climactic restatement of the march theme, then on to a coda that ends the work in exhilarating fashion.

In this judiciously balanced selection, ESO woodwind was heard at its most stylish in music whose appeal belies its technical challenges for individuals and ensemble alike. Next month the orchestra heads to Malvern for an imposing double-bill of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich.

To discover more of the English Symphony Orchestra’s 2023/24 season, head to the English Symphony Orchestra website. Meanwhile click on the names for more on conductor Kenneth Woods, composers Emily Doolittle and Hans Gál, and the Royal Porcelain Works venue

Published post no.1,980 – Monday 16 October 2023

In concert – April Fredrick, Thomas Humphreys, English Symphony Chorus & Orchestra / Kenneth Woods: Voyage to America

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April Fredrick (soprano), Thomas Humphreys (baritone), ESO Chorus, English Symphony Orchestra / Kenneth Woods

Dvořák Symphony no.9 in E minor Op.95 ‘From the New World’ (1893)
Sawyers Mayflower on the Sea of Time (2018) [World Premiere]

Worcester Cathedral
Saturday 17 June 2023

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse

This final concert of the season by the English Symphony Orchestra brought us the premiere of a piece delayed from three years ago. Philip Sawyers’ Mayflower on the Sea of Time was to have been launched at the Three Choirs Festival in April 2020, but the pandemic derailed this as so many other events. Happily, the tenacity of conductor Kenneth Woods has paid off such that the composer’s largest work so far was finally heard, and in the venue originally intended, making for a notable addition to the English choral tradition and one wholly on its own terms.

Commissioned to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from Leiden to Plymouth and thereby founding the United Sates of America, this is an oratorio in concept but equally a choral symphony in its overall design and thematic cohesion. Its libretto, mainly by the artist Philip Groom, features set-pieces for various figures from the Old and New Worlds duly taken by soprano and baritone soloists (those for treble being allotted to sopranos in the chorus), but these along with ones for chorus are drawn into an inherently musical evolution.

Formally, there are four continuous parts. Persecution and Journey, a sonata design such as informs the Pilgrims’ flight from religious persecution and their decision to cross the Atlantic; Arrival in the New World, a slow movement charting their embarkation and tentative initial interaction with native peoples; Survival and Making our Community, a scherzo where the Pilgrims’ industriousness and idealism quickly becomes its own justification; and Our New World, a rondo-finale whose looking to the future is framed by choruses of growing fervour.

As befits such a work, the choral writing is both extensive and resourceful – not least when it elides between depicting Pilgrims or Natives, and that of a more abstract commentary. No less assured, the writing for soprano and baritone allows Sawyers’ lyrical impulse free reign – not least in extended sections toward the end of the second and fourth parts; the latter, especially, rendering comparable passages by Delius or Tippett from a perspective wholly of the present. On either side, luminous and ecstatic choruses accentuate an essentially affirmative message.

The contributions of April Fredrick (no stranger to Sawyers via her long association with the ESO) and Thomas Humphreys could hardly be faulted for commitment or insight, while that of the ESO Chorus exuded a power and immediacy amplified by the resonance of Worcester Cathedral’s acoustic as to belie its relatively modest numbers. The ESO gave its collective all throughout, projecting the textural intricacy and emotional heft of music whose longer-term formal integration was securely conveyed through Woods’s precise yet unobtrusive direction.

Before the interval, Woods gave a notable account of Dvořák’s Ninth Symphony. The poised anticipation of its introduction and visceral drama of its coda were highlights of the opening Allegro, proceeded by a Largo of an eloquence epitomized by rapt cor anglais playing from Louise Braithwaite. Contrast between the incisiveness of the Scherzo’s outer sections and the lilting delicacy of its trio was pointedly underlined, then the final Allegro surged onward to a coda paying tribute to 19th-century symphonism while blazing a trail for what was to come.

Further information on the ESO’s latest Philip Sawyers release (Nimbus NI6436) can be found at the English Symphony Orchestra website. For more on the artists in this concert, click on the names of April Fredrick, Thomas Humphreys, Kenneth Woods and the English Symphony Orchestra themselves – and click here for more on composer Philip Sawyers.

In concert – Alice Coote, Philharmonia Orchestra / John Eliot Gardiner: The Sea and the Land: Mendelssohn, Elgar & Dvořák

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Mendelssohn Hebrides Overture Op.26 ‘Fingal’s Cave’ (1830, rev. 1832)
Elgar Sea Pictures Op.37 (1899)
Dvořák Symphony no.5 in F major Op.75 (1875, rev. 1887)

Alice Coote (mezzo-soprano), Philharmonia Orchestra / John Eliot Gardiner

Royal Festival Hall, London
Thursday 16 February 2023

Reviewed by Ben Hogwood Picture credits – John Eliot Gardiner (c) Sim Canetty-Clarke; Alice Coote (c) Jiyang Chen

This was an ultimately invigorating concert, using a cleverly constructed programme to look at how composers respond to the earth itself.

We began off the west coast of Scotland, the Inner Hebrides to be exact – and the uninhabited island of Staffa. Here it was that Mendelssohn saw Fingal’s Cave (above) in the summer of 1829. His musical response has become one of the composer’s best-loved pieces, an early and remarkably vivid example of the symphonic poem. Under John Eliot Gardiner, the Philharmonia Orchestra recounted the scene with remarkable accuracy, capturing the unusual, organ-like appearance of the landmark as well as the sea spray crashing around it. Gardiner steered a sure-footed and clear course through the water, aided by a wonderful clarinet duet from Mark van de Wiel and Laurent Ben Slimane in the second theme.

Alice Coote (above) then joined the orchestra, transporting us to the rarefied waters of Elgar’s Sea Pictures, the mezzo-soprano bringing to life five carefully chosen gems that took the composer far from his desk in Malvern in 1899. It took a while for singer and orchestra to achieve the optimum balance, so the words on the screen above were helpful as Coote found her feet. She did so quickly, and the somnambulant atmosphere of Sea Slumber-Song was cast, the strings lapping at the edges of Coote’s beautifully placed words. As she grew into the role so the gently rocking In Capri was attractively weighted and subtly intense.

Sabbath Morning At Sea was solemn yet soon reached for the heights, Coote’s innate grasp of the text matched by Gardiner’s control and shaping of the melodic line from the orchestra. The celebrated Where Corals Lie was perhaps inevitably the highlight, but The Swimmer ran it close, running all the way to a richly coloured high register from the singer at the end. Support came from the depths, too, with Alistair Young’s sensitive contribution on the Royal Festival Hall organ one to savour.

We returned to land for Dvořák’s Symphony no.5, the work with which he ‘rebooted’ his career as an orchestral composer in 1887, his publisher having spotted an opportunity to re-promote a piece finished in 1875. In this concert the parallel with the seasons was irresistible, the symphony’s first movement in particular resembling the flourishing of flowers in spring. Fleet footed strings were complemented by fresh faced woodwind, headed by the burbling clarinets who shone once again in the opening theme.

The Fifth is a sunny work, sitting in the shadow of the last three symphonies (nos.7-9) where live performances are concerned. As this concert revealed, however, it is a descendant of Beethoven’s Pastoral symphony, a work with considerable depth of its own and many different orchestral colours in which to revel. After a vivacious first movement, where Dvořák’s themes were given the best possible chance to shine, the cellos took the lead in their burnished opening to the romantic slow movement. This serious, minor key theme – surprisingly similar to the main tune of the Mendelssohn – was supplemented by an attractive, triple-time dance in the major key.

The slow movement segued effortlessly into the Scherzo, where the flurry of violins conjured up a vision of dancers trying to find their feet on the floor. The give and take between orchestral sections was a delight both to hear and to watch, as it was in the finale. The material here turns a little sour initially, Dvořák struggling manfully to regain the positive demeanour of the first movement. In Gardiner’s hands this was a compelling argument, ultimately won with the help of the superb Philharmonia brass, trombones punching out their melodies to thrilling effect. Once the ‘home’ key was reached the winter storms retreated and we basked in glorious musical sunshine, capping a fine evening where spring really did seem within touching distance.

You can read all about the 2022/23 season and book tickets at the Philharmonia Orchestra website.