Strauss:
Don Juan
Brahms:
Double Concerto
Strauss:
Also Sprach Zarathustra
Nikolaj
Znaider (conductor), Roman Simovic (violin), Tim Hugh (cello), London Symphony
Orchestra, Barbican, London, 1 May 2014
If
you are one of the greatest violinists of your generation, pursuing a second
career as a conductor is always going to involve overcoming prejudices. Nikolaj
Znaider has faced that challenge head-on, and has persuaded the kind of people
who matter, including Valery Gergiev, who has appointed him Principal Guest
Conductor of the Mariinsky Orchestra. His guest appearances on the podiums of
the world now match the prestige of his concerto engagements.
And
yet the suspicion of moonlighting persists. This evening’s performance seemed
very much like the work of a great musician who has yet to fully master the
role of conductor. His musicianship is unquestionable, and his many years as a
concerto soloist have given him the ability to effortlessly maintain control of
the proceedings – an important transferable skill. But conducting demands more,
and many aspects of the performance suggested that his skills here are still
developing. He isn’t a particularly dynamic presence on the podium. His baton
technique is reasonable, but is based on a very limited vocabulary of gestures.
And his communication with the orchestra lacks dynamism and spontaneity,
especially in these demanding works.
Don Juan is a virtuoso
showpiece, as much for the conductor as for the orchestra, so Znaider was
playing high stakes by opening his concert with it. He launched the work well,
pushing the players to greater heights of energy and lyricism with every
phrase. But when the excitement of the opening died down, the quieter music
exposed a reluctance to shape or structure the music. Tempos remained stiff
throughout. Transitions were awkward, and sudden outbursts seemed to surprise
the conductor more than they did the audience. Gradual build-ups worked better,
and Znaider has an impressive ability to drive into climaxes. But when the
drama subsides, the music becomes frustratingly rigid. A lack of atmosphere is
the greatest failing, at least of Znaider’s Strauss, and the quiet ending of Don Juan seemed curiously arbitrary here,
as if the conductor had lost interest long before the delicate closing bars.
The
Brahms Double Concerto suffered less. Znaider’s methodical approach better
suited the formality of Brahms’ traditional structuring. This evening’s
soloists, Roman Simovic and Tim Hugh, are leader and principal cello of the
orchestra. The clear benefit is innate chemistry between the two, the result of
regular duetting in orchestral contexts (and there was some of this from them
in Zarathustra later on). The matching
of timbre and phrasing between the two soloists was ideal, and the fiendish
octave passagework in the first movement was precisely co-ordinated. The
disadvantage was a certain lack of bravura from either player, neither of whom
held the stage or dominated proceedings the way a true concert soloists might,
like, say...Nikolaj Znaider. The interactions between soloists and orchestra
also spoke of long collaboration. Generally, the violin and cello stood out
from the ensemble as they should, but on the occasions when Brahms requires
them to gradually fade into the string section they do so magnificently.
Znaider
was on better form with Zarathustra.
He clearly knows this work well (both Strauss works were conducted without a
score) and the problematic architecture here was presented as both meaningful
and logical. The orchestra was on excellent form throughout the concert, but
Znaider made some entries difficult with ambiguous cues. Even so, his tempo
relationships were all very astute, if, again, the transitions between them
were sometimes awkward. Climaxes were thrilling, something both orchestra and
conductor should take credit for. But, as with Don Juan, the quieter music was more problematic. The waltzes were
all very four-square (OK, three-square), and the ending lacked mystery. Znaider
clearly does not share Strauss’ fascination with Nietzsche’s description of the
void, and all the discussion of darkness and night in the work’s programme had
little bearing on the way he performed it. The results were certainly engaging,
but always seemed two-dimensional. Perhaps Znaider is programming Strauss as a
challenge to himself, an exercise to fill in the musical requirements of a
conductor that he has not developed through violin playing. If so, that’s all
very laudable, but the London Symphony Orchestra deserves a more experienced
guide through this music, especially as this evening they demonstrated a flair
for it that few other orchestras, anywhere in the world, could match.