Tag Archives: Benjamin Britten

In concert – Ian Bostridge, CBSO / Gergely Madaras: Thorvaldsdottir, Britten & Tchaikovsky

Posted on by
Reply

Ian Bostridge (tenor), City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra / Gergely Madaras (above)

Thorvaldsdottir Dreaming (2008)
Britten Les Illuminations Op.18 (1939)
Tchaikovsky Symphony no.1 in G minor Op.13 ‘Winter Daydreams’ (1866, rev. 1883)

Symphony Hall, Birmingham
Wednesday 17 April 2024

Reviewed by Richard Whitehouse Picture of Gergely Madaras (c) Hannah Fathers

This evening’s concert with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra comprised what was an unusually cohesive programme centred on the concept of ‘dreams’, assembled and directed with consistent empathy and insight by the Hungarian conductor Gergely Madaras.

Dreaming was the title as well as the watchword of the piece by Anna Thorvaldsdottir which opened proceedings. Her first major work for orchestra is already characteristic in its eliding between evocations arcadian and desolate, with an undeniable sense of the ominous coming through as the final stages take on an extemporized quality; musicians gradually exiting the sonic frame with just the capricious asides of a cellist remaining. Eduardo Vassallo made the most of this brief spotlight, and the CBSO made its collective presence felt to striking effect.

Arthur Rimbaud’s brief but meteoric spell as a poet in the early 1870s had belated if decisive impact on numerous composers and none more than Britten, his song-cycle Les Illuminations among his finest achievements in any medium. Having sung it many times, Ian Bostridge (above) still manages to point up the growing anticipation of ‘Fanfare’ or breathless excitement of Villes; his wide-eyed wonder in Phrase then graceful musing in Antique matched by the resolute irony of Marine or glancing wit of Royauté. Madaras drew languorous playing from the CBSO strings in Interlude and brought out the ecstatic longing of Being Beauteous, before the fervid imagining of Parade brought this sequence full circle. It remained for Départ to offer a fulfilled exit as poet – and composer – resignedly bids farewell to the realm of dreams.

This gripping account should not have needed Bostridge to address members of the audience after the fourth song, asking they refrain taking pictures on their mobiles while the music was in progress. An overhaul of the management’s current laissez-faire approach might be in order.

After the interval, a comparatively rare outing for Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony. The ‘Winter Daydreams’ of its subtitle implies an unforced though rarely contrary take on formal precepts, as in an opening movement (oddly marked Allegro tranquillo) whose often portentous pauses were well integrated by Madaras into the cumulative symphonic flow. The CBSO woodwind came into own with the Adagio – its oboe melody among its composer’s most affecting, and not least when it returns at the movement’s climax in a mood of expansive if fateful grandeur.

Partly drawn from an earlier piano sonata, the Scherzo exudes a pert animation that Madaras judged to a nicety, as he did the wistful ruminations of its trio. Much the hardest movement to make cohere, the Finale unfolded persuasively from its sombre introduction to a celebratory Allegro replete with fugal episodes; the ensuing build-up (its effect not lost on Shostakovich) to the resounding restatement of its main theme duly capped by an apotheosis whose overkill was (rightly) kept well within limits, thereby setting the seal on this persuasive performance. For imaginative programming and convincing execution, Madaras is at the forefront among conductors of his generation – his rapport with the CBSO evident throughout. This should be equally true when Markus Stenz returns next week for a pairing of Schumann and Bruckner.

Click on the link to read more on the current CBSO concert season, and on the names for more on tenor Ian Bostridge and conductor Gergely Madaras. Click here for an interview Arcana conducted with composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir in 2023

Published post no.2,153 – Friday 19 April 2024

Online Concert: Jean-Guihen Queyras @ Wigmore Hall – Bach, Saygun & Britten

Posted on by
Reply

Jean-Guihen Queyras (cello)

J.S. Bach Cello Suite no.1 in G major BWV1007 (c1720)
Saygun Partita for solo cello Op.31 (1955)
Britten Cello Suite no.1 Op.72 (1964)

Wigmore Hall, Monday 20 November 2023 1pm

by Ben Hogwood

There is now a wide variety of repertoire from which the unaccompanied cellist can choose, yet this was emphatically not the case in the days of Johann Sebastian Bach. His six suites opened the door for the instrument to become a purveyor of melody and emotion, even if those facets were left largely unexplored until the 20th century.

Writing for solo stringed instruments went out of fashion in the Romantic period, until the rediscovery of Bach’s works by Pablo Casals towards the end of the 19th century – from which this highly original music reached its rightful platform. The First Cello Suite of the six is a delightful work, written at a standard rewarding those of an intermediate ability with music that repays decades of listening and practising.

Jean-Guihen Queyras brought to it a freshness bringing the most from the music. His unaffected manner with the Prelude found serenity amid a relatively relaxed sequence of string crossing, the cellist’s careful thought giving the music space. This set a theme maintained by the nicely voiced Allemande, then a bracing and rustic Courante reminding us of the dance origins of these pieces. The elegant Sarabande was particularly beautiful, with tasteful ornamentation applied on the section repeats, before a spirited first Minuet was offset by the brief but contemplative second in the minor key. A lively Gigue concluded an excellent performance. Bach will always be work in progress for cellists, but it was clear just how enjoyable that process is for Queyras.

From the well-known Bach we travelled to Turkey to experience the relatively unheard Partita of Ahmet Adnon Saygun, a composer regarded as the first exponent of Western classical music in the country, and whose orchestral music has travelled relatively well. Queyras removed the fourth movement of five from this performance, which nonetheless made a powerful impact. Starting with a drone in the lower reaches, the Lento first movement climbed melodically to an expressive outpouring, totally secure in the French cellist’s hands. A restless, edgy Vivo followed before emotive inflections were found in the Adagio, the melodic lines alternately probing or softly turning inwards. The Allegro moderato was deceptive to start with, initially meandering in mid-register before crossing the cello with emphatic lines, before the music relented to the drone of the opening once more. On this evidence, the chamber music of Saygun – a composer with a prolific output – is definitely worth exploring in more detail.

Like Bach, Britten also based his first cello suite in G major – the third of his works dedicated to the great cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, after the Cello Sonata and Cello Symphony. With a mixture of contrasting dances and tempi, the work has a recurring Canto section, on which Britten typically writes a number of varied repeats. This performance began in commanding fashion, before Queyras repeated the melody in a plaintive voice, getting closer to the true heart of the suite.

For although there was music of immense power this is essentially nervy night-time music. In this performance the Fuga often retreated to the shadows, offering some furtive if slightly playful harmonics at the end. The Lamento was lost in thought to begin with while the Serenata, played pizzicato throughout, evoked another world. So too did the Marcia, its ghostly evocations of flute and drum cutting to assertive, red-blooded music. The Bordone was troubled, the pitches of its drone creating great tension in this interpretation – before the scurrying finale found sure-footed ground.

This was a technically flawless recital from Queyras, a captivating trio of pieces atmospherically cast in half light on the Wigmore Hall stage. His encore was music from György Kurtág, a master of solo instrument composition. His typically compressed but intense Az Hit, where a diatonic melody developed outwards before drawing back in, finished with a charming two-note signature.

For more livestreamed concerts from the Wigmore Hall, click here

BBC Proms 2023 – we’re underway…

Posted on by
Reply

Yesterday saw the start of the biggest festival in British classical music, the BBC Proms – broadcast live from the Royal Albert Hall.

Dalia Stasevska, guest conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, led passionate Nordic music from Sibelius (the choral version of Finlandia with the BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Chorus, and a new arrangement of Snöfrid, narrated by actress Lesley Manville) and Grieg, whose evergreen Piano Concerto was given a new lick of paint by a wonderful interpretation from Paul Lewis.

Also featured was a Sibelian new work, Let There Be Light, from Ukrainian composer Bohdana Frolyak – a composer definitely worth seeking out in this evidence – and the concert closed with Britten‘s Young Person’s Guide To The Orchestra, with its triumphant fugal finale.

You can watch the Prom here on the BBC iPlayer:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001nr5b/bbc-proms-2023-first-night-of-the-proms

Arcana will be covering a good number of concerts as the season progresses, so check back through July and August to read more!

Online Concert: Orsino Ensemble at Wigmore Hall – Britten, Reicha & Janáček

Posted on by
Reply

Orsino Ensemble [Adam Walker (flute), Nicholas Daniel (oboe), Matthew Hunt (clarinet), Amy Harman (bassoon), Alec Frank-Gemmill (horn), Peter Sparks (bass clarinet)]

Britten Movement for wind sextet (1930)
Reicha Wind Quintet in E flat major Op.88/2 (1811)
Janáček Mládí (1924)

Wigmore Hall, Monday 5 June 2023 1pm

by Ben Hogwood

This attractive programme of works for wind ensemble began with a rarity.

Benjamin Britten seldom wrote for wind – a shame, since his writing for the instrumental family as soloists or in an orchestral context is remarkably assured. The Movement for Wind Sextet performed here by the Orsino Ensemble is thought to have been a response to Janáček’s Mládí – and is scored for the same forces. This account was shady and elusive to begin with, reflecting its elusive melodic and harmonic figures. There was beautiful control from Nicholas Daniel’s oboe solo before a quicker section featured some lovely ‘burbling’ sounds from the clarinets, oboe and flute pushing for the higher reaches. Ultimately this piece remains beyond reach, an intriguing if slightly frustrating sign of what might have been had Britten committed more wholeheartedly to the wind ensemble.

It made a welcome change to hear the music of Anton Reicha. Born in Bohemia in 1770, Reicha – a flautist – soon found himself leading the court orchestra in Bonn, where his musicians included a certain viola player named Beethoven. Moving on to Paris, Reicha taught at the Conservatoire, where his pupils included Berlioz, Franck and Liszt. In spite of these big-name links, his own music is not heard as often as it should be. He did however write prolifically for wind ensemble, completing 24 accomplished quintets, which are among his most-heard compositions.

The Wind Quintet in E flat major is a particularly attractive example, and received the ideal performance here. The Orsino Ensemble began with a brightly voiced Lento, with the added plus of Amy Harman’s characterful bassoon in the lower register as the ensuing Allegro began. This provided the impetus for the ensemble to exchange attractive melodies, enjoying the beautiful sonorities a wind ensemble can create. The Menuetto had a lovely lilt to its triple time, with busy inner parts to support the genial melody. The third movement also had a winsome lilt to its rhythmic profile, albeit a good deal slower – and with lovely operatic solos from oboe and clarinet. The perky last movement added humour to the mix, with some thoroughly enjoyable interplay, delivered here with virtuosity and style.

Janáček’s sound world is immediately different to those around it – as is the case with the intriguing wind sextet Mladi. Written as a ‘memoir of youth’, and composed around the same time as his masterpiece The Cunning Little Vixen, the work looks back to a childhood in Hukvaldy. Premiered in Brno in 1924, it was first performed in Britain – at the Wigmore Hall in front of the composer – in 1926.

The conflicting accounts of youth, refracted through the mind of a 70 year-old composer, are fascinating to the ear, with joyful moments tempered by unexpected, melancholic asides. There is however an underlying positivity running through the music.

The Orsino Ensemble enjoyed the raucous folk-based tunes along with the doleful asides that are such a characteristic of his work. The rich shades of colour were ideally exploited. Shadows lengthened over the second movement, depicting the composer and his mother parting at a train station. The third movement had the vigour of youth, with some sparky themes, while there was a motoric element to the last theme, generated by the horn – before more complementing aspects of joy and melancholy.

This was a very fine concert, with an encore dedicated to the recently passed Kaija Saariaho. Nicholas Daniel introduced the second of Oliver Knussen’s 3 fantasies for wind quintet, preceded by the poem How Sweet To Be A Cloud, part of the composer’s Hums and Songs of Winnie-the-Pooh. The sonorities we heard here were unexpectedly true to Saariaho’s sound world, and formed a characteristically striking memorial.

For more livestreamed concerts from the Wigmore Hall, click here

In Appreciation – Libor Pešek

Posted on by
Reply

by Ben Hogwood

Today we learned of the sad news that conductor Libor Pešek has died at the age of 89.

A tribute to him has been posted on social media by his management company IMG, while the artist page they held for him contains details on his conducting career.

Libor Pešek made some particularly fine recordings with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra when Virgin Classics was in the ascendancy in the 1990s. They include a cycle of the symphonies of Dvořák but also a rather wonderful disc introducing us to the music of Vítězslav Novák, and in particular his Slovak Suite. The recording became extremely popular with Classic FM listeners, and has led to something of a revival for the composer.

The playlist enclosed here is almost exclusively of Czech music, including works by Suk and Smetana, but we also include a nod to some extremely fine recordings of British music the conductor made, notably Britten’s Young Person’s Guide.

Any listener to classical music from the 1980s onwards will surely have encountered Libor Pešek’s art, and we can appreciate it here: