The Dome, Brighton, 31 December 2013

There is only one composer when New Year celebrations come to mind – Johann Strauss – and far better to hear him live than rest as a couch-potato in front of the Vienna Philharmonic.

Barry Wordsworth set a cracking pace with a bright and breezy performance of Suppe’s Overture Light Cavalry before we got into Strauss proper with the Egyptian March. As a remarkably well trained audience we were all well up to the vocal chorus for the work, as we were equally sensitive in adding the choral backing in Vilja later in the afternoon. Before that we indulged ourselves in Lehar’s Gold and Silver Waltz.

The young Portuguese soprano Susanna Gaspar has a pleasing weight to her voice as well as the ringing top notes to excite the audience. Her Vilja was moving and her Je veux vivre sparkled as it should do. In the second half she gave us a delicate rendition of Dvorak’s Song to the Moon from Rusalka and a seductive Meine lippe from Lehar’s Giuditta. Rightly she came back at the end to add even more smouldering eroticism with the habanera from Carmen.

The first half concluded with the quiet intimacy of Strauss’ Die Libelle, the Thunder and Lightning Polka and the slightly melancholic majesty of the Emperor Waltz.

The second half opened with more Suppe, before the Champagne Polka which allowed the percussion section to come into its own. The percussion often seem to get more to do at New Year than other times of the year, what with sleigh bells, champagne corks and shot guns!

A rather rapid run through Voices of Spring led to the second half arias, and the matinee concluded with the Cuckoo Polka (more percussion solos for bird noises), the Hunting Polka (shot gun) and, inevitably The Blue Danube.

Needless to say this was not quite the end. We had to join in with the Radetzky March, bringing the afternoon to an enthusiastic climax – and when we left, the rain had stopped!

The next concert is on Sunday 12 January and includes Beethoven’s own arrangement of his violin concerto for piano.

Barbican Hall, 17 December 2013

In a performance of wonderful musical intensity and great beauty, let us start at the end. After the Georgian triumphalism of Worthy is the Lamb, the Amen chorus opened with disarming simplicity and calm, no sense of haste or grandeur. It was as if we had not only reached the end of the work, but the end of all things; the story had been told and everything had been accomplished. It was a spiritually brilliant and utterly compelling conclusion to an evening of wonders.

Bernard Labadie’s approach to the score sees it as an organic whole. The fast pace of the opening movements draw us inevitably to All we like sheep and a sudden moment of realisation in and the Lord hath laid upon him. From that point the pace is more refined and the tone more introspective, but not for long. The turning point comes with the joy of the soprano’s But thou didst not leave his soul in hell, and from then on the work becomes increasingly confident and outspoken.

Such was the impact of The trumpet shall sound – with both bass Brindley Sherratt and natural trumpeter David Blackadder performing from memory – that there was a spontaneous eruption of applause.

Before the second part, Guy Dammann presented Iestyn Davies with the 2013 Critics’ Circle award for Exceptional Young talent (voice) and on the evidence of his performance this evening one could not doubt the justice of the award. The range of subtle emotion he brought to He was despised, with a hint of greater passion in the ornamentation of the da capo, the beauty of line in O thou that tellest, the fire of But who may abide all spoke of his deep understanding of the music and his exceptional professionalism.

Soprano Lydia Teuscher’s light, lyric approach brought freshness to her arias. Rejoice greatly could easily have been from Semele, and I know that my Redeemer liveth had the sincerity and confidence of profound faith. Jeremy Ovenden’s mellifluous tenor opened the evening with a gentle Comfort ye, and ended with a combative Thou shalt break them.

The chorus of the Academy of Ancient Music may be small in numbers but like their orchestral companions make an impressively full bodied sound. Their size also allows for real fluidity and speed without any loss of articulation.

Orchestral choices were sometimes unusual. The organ and harpsichord frewuntly played together, though the organ sound was often inaudible, particularly in the earlier movements. But these were very minor concerns in a wonderful evening.

The performance is being repeated tonight in King’s College, Cambridge, and on 20 Dec at the Salle Pleyel, Paris.  BH

Maidstone Symphony Orchestra

Mote Hall, 30 November 2013

Brian Wright obviously enjoys challenging both his players and his audience. Last night’s concert at the Mote Hall brought us a club sandwich with chunky crusts and a fascinating filling.

The orchestra blazed into action with Berlioz’ Overture Roman Carnival, with the brass and woodwind indulging themselves in the composer’s enthusiasm, but not before a limpid cor anglais solo from David Montague. The strings were more than up to the extravagance of the final pages putting everyone in a good mood for the following concerto.

Reinhold Gliere is hardly a household name and his horn concerto, though loved by those who know it, is not frequently performed. Tom Bettley was advertised as a local boy but there is nothing domestic about his approach to the work or to his professionalism as a soloist. Gliere spent time studying with a professional horn player before completing the work and this shows in the challenges he provides for the soloist. Not only are there some formidable technical passages in the outer movements but the long lyrical sections are equally difficult, and it was these which were particularly impressive. The Andante has a Tchaikovsky-like melodic line which wanders with great beauty – a beauty finely crafted in Tom Bettley’s gentle and mellifluous playing. By the end it was easy to see why players love the work – perhaps we might learn to if we heard it more often.

After the interval the orchestra brought us two large-scale romantic works, commencing with Richard Strauss’ Tod und Verklarung. The opening section caught the timelessness of the piece with ease, the long string passages unfolding with skill and great sensitivity. Brian Wright maintained the tension here, creating a fine balance between anxiety and ennui. The double climax was splendidly phrased and the strings were at their best in the outpouring of joy in the final pages.

Stravinsky’s 1919 suite from The Firebird was probably the most familiar item on the programme and brought the evening to an exultant conclusion. After a gentle Round Dance, the Finale built skilfully – including a fine bassoon solo from Philip Le Bas – allowing the colours and textures of the score to shine through. Wind and brass ensembles were at their most relaxed, and the percussion came into its own.

A suitably large and enthusiastic audience clearly enjoyed the whole evening. If anybody thinks I may be overlooking the odd missed note or fluff, the odd less than perfect entry, then let me assure them I am well aware of the minor imperfections of any live performance. There are very few orchestras in my experience who can get through an evening with every note perfectly formed – that only happens on carefully edited recordings – but the excitement of a live performance is far more worthwhile than any cd, no matter who the orchestra is! BH

The next concert is on Saturday 1 February with works by Mendelssohn, Sibelius and Beethoven. The Concerto soloist will be Mark Simpson playing Copland’s Clarinet Concerto. www.mso.org.uk

Barbican Hall, 23 November 2013

The BBC’s Britten anniversary celebrations have brought us some highly impressive events but surely none as joyful as this staging of Albert Herring. Announced as semi-staged, this could mean anything from soloists moving about with scores in their hands to something which could easily transfer to a small theatre without anybody noticing the difference.

In the event, Kenneth Richardson’s approach was full of intimate details and subtle character references which drew strength from working around the ensemble under Steuart Bedford rather than ignoring it. Albert’s slightly inebriated stroll from one side of the platform to the other seemed confused, if eventually pleased, to come upon an orchestra on his travels and delighted to find the shop bell above the piano.

The cast were drawn from strength and all outstanding. There was an unexpected frisson with Lady Billows in the second act when we hear the Tristan music. The last time I recall hearing Christine Brewer in this hall was as Isolde! Her Lady Billows grew in pomposity and strength as the evening progressed and Albert’s stand-off at the end was certainly not the last they would hear from her. Catherine Wyn-Rogers was very much her equal as Albert’s mum, and one could see how supressed not only Albert but the rest of society was with such formidable women in control.

Under the circumstances Roderick Williams’ Rev Gedge is a master of diplomacy, saving the day again and again in the face of near disaster.

Sid and Nancy, Marcus Farnsworth and Kitty Whately, are the nearest thing Britten created to a normal heterosexual couple whose future one can believe in, and they sparred magnificently even as they plotted.

The children were splendid, led by Gillian Keith’s Miss Wordsworth who implied a stronger character than is often the case, but having to stand up to Lady Billows and the formidable Florence Pike of Gaynor Keeble it was no wonder.

Andrew Staples is a very subtle Albert. He starts quietly and gently, not so much under mum’s thumb as happy to know his place, but the act one solo indicates his frustration and this builds slowly but menacingly as the evening proceeds. His reluctance to join the party and to follow what is going on was totally convincing, as was his reply after all the gushing nonsense which he had been forced to sit through. It was almost as if he was playing them at their own game. The final scene made it clear that for this young man there was no going back, whatever that meant in terms of his own sexuality.

The musicians on stage created the glorious mirage that Britten requires, frequently sounding far richer than a mere twelve instruments, while Steuart Bedford held everything together as if it was all in a day’s work – the quintessence of professionalism. As this went out live on Radio3 let us hope the recording becomes available soon. BH

photos: BBC Mark Allan

London Coliseum 20 November 2013

Few modern operas have had three revivals within six years but ENO had no hesitation mounting a revival of Philip Glass Satyagraha. If anything, the work grows more impressive with familiarity, and the revival directors have certainly not lost any of its impact since the last time it was staged. Where the large puppets and the massively staged scenes caught the attention when first seen, it was the more reflective scenes that made a positive impression on this occasion. The simplicity of the Indian Opinion scene, with its swirling newsprint and a life lifting out of nothing was deeply moving, as was the gently authoritative burning of the identity cards.

Alan Oke returned as Gandhi, a part with which he is now almost synonymous, and his mellifluous tones convinced throughout. Sarah Pring made a strong impression as Mrs Alexander, one of the few scenes which had a direct narrative line. Phelim McDermott’s approach to the work seemed to some to be over-fussy when new in 2007 but it has aged well and lost none of its impact.

Musically Stuart Stratford held his forces together with skill, any tiny slips being rapidly mopped up in a score which has more pitfalls than a more conventional opera. The chorus were in fine form and are frequently required to create a sense of stillness and calm which is quite different from simply not moving – a feat which they brought off with aplomb.

There are five more performances – details from www.eno.org

 Royal Albert Hall, 10 November 2013

Fifty years ago there might have been some concerns raised if Britten’s War Requiem had been performed on Remembrance Sunday. Doubts were voiced about its pacifist overtones and the mixture of war poetry with the Latin mass upset some listeners.

It is difficult to empathise with those views today, particularly when the work is as smoothly and poignantly performed as it was last night.

Rather than the juxtaposition of verse and mass setting, it was the seamless flow from one to the other which impressed. The long passage running from Be slowly lifted up through the Lacrimosa to Move him into the sun had an inevitability and pain to it which was heart-stopping.

Moreover, the text carried with a clarity rarely heard when the work is performed in a cathedral. Allan Clayton’s tenor solos cut like steel through the vast spaces of the hall and his hushed delivery of One ever hangs was as fine as one could imagine. Roderick Williams characterised the more overt poems with skill and was very moving when he came to I am the enemy you killed my friend.

Sabina Cvilak has the top for the soprano part but her placing by the organ made her rather too distant. Recalling the cutting edge of Galina Vishnevskaya, one was aware of that Britten was writing for a more forceful voice.

The Crouch End Festival Chorus joined the BBC Symphony Chorus, both in fine voice and obviously enjoying the work. The boys of Westminster Abbey sang well but seemed a little too distant, the altos almost disappearing at times. Semyon Bychkov kept all his forces under sensitive control and the chamber orchestra had real bite.

A memorable performance and a fine tribute for Remembrance Day. BH

Bristol Hippodrome, 6-8 November 2013

A Tudor Ring Cycle? Well not quite, but at over ten hours of music across three evenings it makes for far more than a loosely connected series. Essential to the approach is Madeleine Boyd’s design. A black box, redolent of the RSC in the early seventies, focusses all the attention upon the singers. Costumes, again mostly in black, remove any sense of chocolate-box Tudor or of uncomfortable comparisons with actual history. Alastair Miles’ Enrico is straight out of Game of Thrones rather than any pseudo-naturalistic sixteenth century epic.

At the heart of all three operas is Elisabetta, the Queen, who appears in Anna Bolena in the opening moments as a baby and whose cot is on stage virtually the whole evening. It is she who will become the protagonist of the following two works and it was a stroke of genius by director Alessandro Talevi to make the baby a key element in the opening opera of the trilogy.

The chorus seem to be ever present, making many of the scenes uncomfortably public, and the high orchestra pit (in fact in Bristol there isn’t one!) makes the orchestral sound under Daniele Rustioni’s lively baton even crisper.

The emotional tension of the evening is never allowed to wane even when the musical line appears to be lighter in tone. The overture may seem closer to Rossini than later Verdi, yet there are hints of anger and explosions of brass which prefigure what is to come. Serena Farmocchia’s Anna is distraught from the start, and only during the final mad scene does she show any sense of lightness or the earlier calm which drew her to Enrico in the first place. Robert McPherson has the high tessitura for Percy, but also the sensitivity to convey the constant shifts in emotion. Katherine Goeldner’s Giovanna is equally torn between her love for Enrico (difficult to understand given his characterisation) and her feelings for her friend Anna. Both women developed as the evening progressed and their final long duet was very moving. If Enrico’s authoritarian violence is the key to the work, he does not have the last word. In a blaze of red silk, Anna performs a mad scene and coda which is as formidable as the demise of Dido or Brunnhilde.  Serena Farmocchia had saved the best to last and convinced us not only that this is a magnificent work, but the final scene is one of the greatest from the belcanto repertoire.

With Maria Stuarda we are demonstrably in the same world if now a generation on. Elisabetta is as vicious and nasty as her father, and is surrounded by a court as suspicious and ever-present. But there is some change. Where earlier there had been a connection to the outside world, now we have two small chambers, cells almost, back to back, endlessly circling one another. Each is the prison for a queen, for Elisabetta is as much a prisoner as Maria. In the opening act there is little sympathy for either woman. They are as arrogant and dismissive of would be supporters as each other. The confrontation of the queens towards the end of act one is a marvellous piece of writing, but as we have little sympathy for either it fails to make a great deal of impact. Only in act two does Maria begin to gain our emotional interest as she moves inevitably towards her death. In Rudolf Frey’s production Talbot – the ever reliable Alastair Miles – becomes her father confessor and confidant, convincingly so in the final scene. The great prayer in act two becomes the climax of the evening, and even Roberto’s suicide does not eclipse it.

If the final moments do not quite succeed this is only because the revolve could not whisk the execution away fast enough.

Adina Nitescu has a large, powerful voice but displayed little subtlety as Elisabetta. There was no sense of a human being learning as events unfold and she seemed as two-dimensional at the end as at the start. By contrast Judith Howarth’s Maria slowly unfolds before us, becoming a genuinely tragic figure as she goes to her death. Ignore history, this is a convincing portrayal of a woman out of her depths within political intrigue. Bruce Sledge’s Roberto is probably the most sympathetic character before us but as with Maria has a world against him.

Orchestra and chorus under Graeme Jenkins were in fine, brisk form, making much of the opportunities Donizetti provides for them.

There may be only a few years between Anna Bolena and Roberto Devereux but the change in musical style is marked. Where much of the earlier work could be taken for Rossini, in Devereux we are distinctly Verdian. Nottingham’s great aria and his later scene with Sarah could comfortably sit in any early or mid-period Verdi opera, and were finely sung by David Kempster and Leah-Marian Jones. Moreover, the work really does make sense as the culmination of a trilogy, not thought-through in the way of the Ring Cycle but psychologically apt as we see Elisabetta progress from bastard child, through ranting autocrat to near-insane tarantula trying to control the world around her even as she withers towards death.

Alexandra Deshorties gave probably the best performance of the week as Elisabetta, her ferocity and power equalling her thrilling coloratura. Wearing what appeared to be the tattered remnants of the dress her mother wore to the scaffold, she reduces the authority of a queen to the emotions of a love-sick school-girl and drags the world down with her.

The image of the tarantula is telling. Potentially highly dangerous, it can only survive if fed from outside and kept in cocooned captivity, like the queen herself.

Leonardo Capalbo’s Roberto is equally a fish out of water, surrounded by courtiers who have been there from the start and will continue once Elisabetta has died. His vocal heroism was convincing but he stood no chance within the subtle politics around him.

As on all three evenings the chorus was not only in fine voice but an ever-present threat to wayward individuals. Daniele Rustioni was very obvious in the shallow pit and was clearly enjoying himself as he guided his forces to ever greater intensity.

The experiment of staging the trilogy may not have brought the audiences or financial results it deserved, but those of us who experienced it are all very grateful for the opportunity which I suspect will not come again. BH

The Dome, Brighton, 3 November 2013

A Bach concert, but not quite as one might expect. Opening with J S Bach’s Orchestral Suite No3 we then moved to J C Bach for an overture and finally to C P E Bach for a setting of the Magnificat.

We have become so used to original instrument performances that it is something of a novelty to hear Bach on a modern symphony orchestra. The slow opening of the Ouverture with its mellow trumpets set the tone. Barry Wordsworth moulded the suite as a whole, moving effortlessly into a more extrovert and dynamic intensity, concluding with a lively Gigue.

J C Bach’s Sinfonia in B flat is actually the overture to his failed opera Lucio Silla. However one would not know this from the three delightful movements of the work itself. There are hints of Mozart in the Andante and a bouncy folk-dance to finish. A pity the rest of the opera is not of the same quality.

C P E Bach may have written a large amount of fine music but he was unfortunate in never being as good as his father, and surrounded in adulthood by Haydn and Mozart. His Magnificat gives dramatic, often overtly operatic, music for both soloists and chorus, and the forces on this occasion relished the opportunity to explore it.

The four soloists are given one solo each and there is a duet for tenor and alto, all framed by massive choral writing. With the smaller orchestra in place, Barry Wordsworth had moved the Brighton Festival Chorus forward onto the main platform with immediate impact on their volume and richness of tone. The final chorus, which if we are honest, overstays its welcome – there is only so much one can do with Amen as even Handel accepted – was given with great panache and vibrancy.

Soprano Lucy Hall gave us a plaintive Quia respexit and Catherine Carby a moving Suscepit Israel. Tenor James Edwards threw himself at the score rather over-enthusiastically in his solo but was more relaxed in duet. Baritone Alexander Robin Baker proved suitably operatic and lively for his solo.

While this proved to be a very satisfying programme with some fine music-making, it had obviously not impressed the audience on paper, as they were thinner than usual. A pity, for they missed an unusual aspect of the Bach family and one which is worth further exploration. BH

The next concert brings works by Tchaikovsky and Humperdinck on Sunday 8 December. www.brightonphil.org.uk

Goldsmiths Choral Union, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Brian Wright

Royal Festival Hall, 16 October 2013

We may be moving rapidly towards autumn but this was an evening of joyous spring-like enthusiasm. Constant Lambert’s The Rio Grande is probably more familiar by reputation than by the number of live performances but made a fine curtain raiser, and one obviously relished by the choir. The changes of mood were deftly handled by Tom Poster at the piano, ranging from romantic indulgence to cutting edge jazz. Mezzo-soprano soloist Sophie Mansell sounded fine but from my seat she was completely lost behind the piano lid.

After the interval we were awash with Walton, wallowing in the delights of Belshazzar’s Feast.

Given the density of much of the writing, the opening is actually thinly scored and the solo baritone carries with ease, not that there was any difficulty with Njabulo Madlala’s ample tones. Some minor problems with entries from the choir did not detract from the overall impact and it was certainly a joyful noise.hazzar’s Feast. Having heard this most often in church or cathedral, it made a change to be able to hear far more of the text from the choir and experience the immediacy of the brass from the stage boxes.

Between these works, and in fine contrast, we heard Elgar’s cello concerto. As the earlier review shows, I heard Laura van der Heijden as soloist in the same work five days earlier in Maidstone. In the Royal Festival Hall, making her South Bank debut, the acoustic was more favourable and the lower range of the cello made greater impact. I was also more aware of the extended lyricism of her approach to the slow movement. The orchestral sound from the Royal Philharmonic created a wider palette of tonal support. In the final movement she creates impressive tension between the potential melancholy and the over-arching nobility of the score. She was very warmly received and I expect to see her here again soon. BH

Maidstone Symphony Orchestra,

Laura van der Heijden, cello,

Brian Wright

Mote Hall, Maidstone, 12 October 2013

The prospect of hearing Britten in the Mote Hall, Maidstone, conjures up visions of the Moot Hall at Aldeburgh, but the bleak concrete Leisure Centre could hardly be less romantic. Happily, once the lights are switched off, the Maidstone Symphony Orchestra adds a touch of magic and we are in a concert hall for the start of the new season.

Each concert includes a concerto with a young musician and it will surely be difficult for the other soloists this season to have quite the impact that Laura van der Heijden achieved last night in the Elgar cello concerto. The unusually slow, hushed opening was foretaste of what was to come. Where so many soloists find melancholy or even despair in these pages, here we had the joy that autumn can bring. Sudden tiny bursts of sunlight in the mist, minute changes of tone and colour, gone before we could pin them down. As the first movement drew towards its close she brought a coolness, even a playfulness to the phrasing which was deeply moving.

The second movement was clean and warm but never indulgent. Those of us used to a heady amount of portamento here may have been struck by the almost classical impact of the melodic line. This led to a noble opening for the final movement and a sparky conclusion. The return to the opening theme was a memory, not a fulfilment. When we recall that Laura van der Heijden won the BBC Young Musician of the year in 2012 and is only 16 now, this was a truly remarkable performance. I look forward to hearing her again soon.

The evening had opened with Britten’s Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes. There was real tension in the wind and a rawness in the brass which was very effective, supported by secure strings. The acoustic is good but exposes solo parts so that the tiniest details can be heard. Individual woodwind entries in the storm scene were unexpectedly clear and the impact of the percussion brighter than usual.

After the interval we heard Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony. If there had been any thought that the shrill wind and rasping brass had been endemic to the orchestra, the lush, highly romantic sounds produced here showed the range of tone the orchestra can produce. The string sound became more positive and lush and the horns warm and rounded. The trembling solo horn with the harp was particularly effective at the opening of the second movement.

The final movement was furious in pace and Brian Wright held his forces together with aplomb, bringing all of us to a triumphant conclusion. BH

The next concert at the Mote Hall is on 30 November when Tom Bettley will play Gliere’s Horn Concerto. www.mso.org.uk

Laura van der Heijden will perform Elgar’s cello concerto again this Wednesday 16 Oct at the RFH in a programme under Brian Wright which also includes Walton’s Belshazzar’s Feast.