Janacek (arr. Talich):
Suite, The Cunning Little Vixen
Dvorak: Piano Concerto
Suk: Symphonic Poem,
Ripening
London Philharmonic
Vladimir Jurowski
conductor
Martin Helmchen piano
You
couldn't accuse Vladimir Jurowski of taking an easy route through the
Czech repertoire. The Cunning Little Vixen
Suite, quirky and esoteric as it is, was undoubtedly the most
audience-friendly work on this evening's programme. That was followed
by Dvorak's fascinating, but long and involved, Piano Concerto, and
Suk's equally intense and even more lengthy Ripening.
The results were richly rewarding, but almost infinite resources of
stamina were required from all concerned.
The London Philharmonic are going to know Janacek's Little Vixen very
well by the end of the summer. Talich's suite from the opera opened
this concert, they are performing extracts from the opera at a
children's event next week, and then they are doing a run of the full
opera at Glyndebourne. Naturally, the orchestra is equal to the many
unusual challenges that Janacek sets. Jurowski is not as fluid as
Mackerras, or even Rattle, with this music, but he has an equal
interest in the strange textures that Janacek draws from the
orchestra. Bringing the band up onto the stage gives the audience the
chance to see the bizarre groupings that the composer brings
together. It also makes the balance slightly less string-focussed
than in the theatre. But the results remain as beguiling and as
charmingly rustic as ever.
Dvorak's Piano Concerto is a difficult piece on every level. It
shares much with the concertos of Beethoven and Brahms, including
their faults. Like those great Germans, Dvorak puts down a wantonly
unpianistic piano part, and then accompanies it with a symphony
orchestra, who for the most part seem to be playing a symphony. But
there is much to commend the piece, not least the slow movement,
which contains many moments of supreme beauty. And the orchestration,
while it is occasionally heavy, makes excellent use of the ensemble.
Martin Helmchen has made the concerto one of his calling cards in the
few years that he has been on the international scene. Technically,
he breezes through the piece, which considering the sheer quantity of
notes in the piano part is a considerable achievement. He also has a
very lyrical and romantic mode of expression, which allows the
quieter music to really flow. But something is missing, and I think
it is to do with the musical rhetoric behind the piece. Very often,
Dvorak relies on a theatrical flourish from the pianist to make a
structurally significant statement, such as the entrance of the
second subject in the slow movement, or piano solo at the opening of
the finale – taken straight out of Brahms' First Concerto.
Helmchen's refinement and sophistication stand in the way of these
grand gestures. Or perhaps it's just a volume issue, but for the size
of the orchestra Dvorak sets him up against, he needs to hit those
keys harder, especially in the finale.
When
a piece has a name as unmemorable as Ripening,
it's a fair bet that the music itself is also going to fade from the
memory quite fast. This is one of Suk's symphonic poems that followed
his more significant (and memorable) Asrael.
Like its predecessor, it is a huge orchestral work, musically complex
and intensely dramatic. Suk's approach to orchestration here seems to
be to have every musician playing almost all of the time. Even the
quiet coda involves the whole orchestra playing quietly.
Nevertheless, the orchestration is always interesting, and a good
performance like this one can bring out the continuous variety in
these tutti textures. The bass trombone, for example, has a fabulous
part, as does the tuba. And the orchestral piano is put to a variety
of interesting uses. An offstage choir is brought in towards the end,
as is a group of off-stage trumpets, but both are woefully underused,
and it was hard to tell why they were there.
More clarity from the acoustic might have helped to bring out these
details, but Jurowski and his forces did everything in their power to
give this work its due. Like the pieces in the first half, it is not
the sort of score that allows an orchestra to show off without having
to work, but the preparation and the musical sensitivity here from
everybody helped to bring this music to life. Do they deserve their
obscurity? Perhaps, but they're worth hearing every once in a while,
especially when performed to this standard.
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