London Coliseum, 29 October 2014

Jonathan Miller’s fluidly naturalistic production of La boheme continues to be a fine showcase for young singers, focusing on individual characters within a convincingly drab 1930s Paris. The quartet at the heart of the story are extremely well balanced. David Butt Philip, making his debut at ENO as Rodolfo, proved to have the heroic top to the voice where it is called for but also the sensitivity and gaucheness in the earlier acts as his relationship with Mimi develops. Angel Blue is an unusual Mimi. Tall and elegant, her voice fills the theatre easily in the first act but she controls it magnificently in the final act to bring us one of the finest death scenes I can recall. She literally slips away as she sinks into the large armchair. It is totally convincing.

Jennifer Holloway’s Musetta is vibrant without going over the top, her waltz song in act two emerging naturally from the action rather than being a set-piece. This also allows us to focus on the jealousy of George von Bergen’s Marcello, whose strength grows as the evening progresses.

All of the smaller parts are cast from strength and it was a pity that the speed of the production did not allow us to applaud Barnaby Rea for the farewell to his coat.

The chorus may only come into their own in act two but they do so with real enthusiasm and frequent nuances which enhance the visual impact. It is telling that no matter how complex the action we always focus on the most important characters on stage without them being overtly highlighted. The same is true of act three which is re-thought in terms of a side street in early morning but all of the activity flows from the text and never crosses the emotional intensity of the score.

Gianluca Marciano seems to have a natural feeling for the pulse of the score and his tempi and balance within the pit were always convincing.

If there is any tendency to think oh, another revival of boheme then think again, for everything about the evening validates the decision to do so.

This autumn’s Festival runs for three weeks with performances every day. As a consequence this review can only give a taste of what was on offer, but it does focus on the key feature of the 2014 festival – The Schubert Project – a performance of every song written by the composer within a single Festival. No mean feat in itself and a tribute to the organisers, in particular Sholto Kynoch who seems to have been at everything even if he was not actually performing.

I spent most of two days in the middle of the festival, arriving on Thursday 16 October in time for the lunchtime recital at the Holywell Music Room which was given over to songs dedicated to Therese Grob, Schubert’s first great love. The songs were shared between soprano, Raphaela Papadakis and baritone, Martin Haessler with Sholto Kynoch at the piano. For a collection dedicated to a loved one there are some very dark songs here, though the baritone’s Zufriedenheit Lied and Mailied provided some relief, and the radiant Litanei auf das fest aller seelen for soprano brought the recital to a fine climax. The recital itself was a very relaxed occasion, enabling minor slips to be easily encompassed and forgiven.

Only a brief respite for lunch before joining the afternoon master-class at St Columba’s URC Church on Winterreise given by Sarah Walker. During the morning she had worked on the first twelve songs and now moved to the second part of the cycle. There were to have been three different singers and accompanists giving us four songs each but as one had had to drop out one pair returned for the final four songs. Sarah Walker’s deep understanding of the cycle and her gentle humour carried us through the emotional turmoil of the songs and the immense challenges they bring for a young singer.  She stressed the need to be aware of the connections between the songs, allowing the former to influence the opening of the next. As an example she drew attention to the bleakness of the ending of Einsamkeit which must spill over into any enthusiasm the singer might want to bring to Die Post. She warned against becoming too excited, stressing that less is more in almost every case when approaching the cycle as a whole.

By a sound piece of planning, Ian Bostridge sang Winterreise that evening in the Holywell Music Room accompanied by Thomas Ades. The singer’s platform manner is challenging throughout; he seems ill at ease, ungainly, frequently turns away from the audience or clutches the piano as if his life depended upon it. There is real pain and anger as the cycle proceeds, a bitterness which never degenerates into self-pity but is none the less terrifying to behold. Unlike some approaches there is no hint here of madness or despair. The singer is open to all that life can throw at him and the only tiny crumb of comfort comes in the last two lines when he asks to share his grief with the hurdy-gurdy man. It is a masterly rendition, made all the more so by the succinct and always subtle accompaniment of Thomas Ades. There will always be room for many ways to present this cycle, but there can surely be few today which are as moving or as powerful.

The following Saturday I attended the second lecture recital given by Graham Johnson in the Jacqueline du Pre Music Building which focused on Schubert’s compositions in 1816 and 1817. There were full musical examples from Raphaela Papadakis, Robin Tritschler, Robert Murray and Benjamin Appl, including lengthy extracts from Ossian set as chamber operas intended for solo voice. These were split across the soloists to give a more focused dramatic impact and it would be fascinating to see them staged or filmed. Schubert’s sense of drama is finely developed here and his flowing arioso style closer to early Wagner than the more obvious Italian models he was used to.

Graham Johnson stressed the ever expanding nature of research, noting that even today changes are being made to accepted texts and the singers gave us the most recent scholarly versions known. He traced the move that Schubert was able to make from his own home to stay, on invitation, with the Schobers and the devastating impact of having to return home at the end of 1817. We were encouraged to hear the impact these moves had upon his compositions during the two years and the range of poets from whom he drew. Towards the end of the time his work with the singer Vogel moved his settings into more classical territory as these appealed to the singer. However there is still a propensity to create music which is underpinned by dance rhythms and these shine through.  Graham Johnson drew our attention to the setting of Atys which speaks of a young man out of his comfort zone, and compared this to the Miller in the song cycle, stressing that the Miller is as much an outsider, an inadequate, as Attis himself. While many of the songs we heard were rare, the afternoon ended with An die Musik, preparing those of us able to stay on, for the evening Schubertiad.

Details of events still to be held – www.oxfordlieder.co.uk

A comfortably full Mote Hall greeted the new season for the Maidstone Symphony Orchestra. When subsidies and sponsorship are so difficult to come by these days it is a pleasure to realise that the series is able to continue almost entirely as a result of the generous support of individuals and the enthusiasm of the audience.

The opening concert may have seemed conventional in its planning – an overture, a concerto, a symphony. There was, however, more to it than this as Brian Wright pointed out in his introduction. Tae-Hyung Kim not only won the Hastings International Piano Competition in 2013 but was playing in Russia immediately before flying in for the Maidstone concert.

Wagner may look like the odd one out but the romanticism of the overture to Tannhauser was happily in keeping with the early Tchaikovsky symphony. The strings impressed in the Venusberg music and the horns were resplendent at the end. Balance was excellent throughout in a piece which can easily fall apart as the counter-point becomes more complex.

Tae-Hyung Kim had won the Hastings competition playing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto and he performed this for us last night. His approach appears quite cool to the onlooker. There are no histrionics or mannerisms to detract from the score, yet his impact on the ear is very finely focused. He made a very strong opening statement, creating subtle contrasts in the more reflective passages. The second movement was particularly delicately phrased before a bravura launch into the final Rondo. Here the humour was allowed to shine through and the dance-like forms were never far away. A pity he could not be persuaded for an encore – he deserved one.

Tchaikovsky’s early symphonies suffer, like Dvorak’s, from the over-popularity of the later ones. As a result Winter Daydreams, Tchaikovsky’s first symphony, is still rarely heard, though as Brian Wright demonstrated it is a fine work.

The opening movement is clearly the voice of Tchaikovsky and the Russian themes flow throughout. Darker moments which well up from nowhere were ever present but the light is never put out. The second movement opens as if it was part of the Serenade for Strings but then moves to a more pastoral feel with the solo wind. Suddenly a long lyrical line unfolds, as if the composer could not hold it in any longer. The same is true for the Scherzo where the central movement which would normally be a trio is a flood of lyricism which could easily sit in any of the later works.  After a sombre opening the final movement bursts with Schumannesque vitality and draws on the full brass section.

The orchestra is privileged to have such fine solo players and to create such a firm body of sound in its larger departments.  We can only look forward to the rest of the season – with Copland, Brahms and Vaughan Williams on Saturday 29 November. www.mso.org.uk

Autumn may be in the wings but another wonderful late summer afternoon welcomed the new BPO season. New also this year – a composite programme for the first three concerts to encourage regular supporters and to bring us colour for the first time and more space for notes.

This was an all-Russian programme opening with a bright and warm reading of Glinka’s overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila. The necessary re-arrangements to bring on the piano gave Barry Wordsworth an opportunity to thank us for our continuing support and to welcome a large number of younger members to the audience. At a time when so many concerts seem to be supported only by those at or around retirement this was a very encouraging sign.

Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto followed with Natasha Paremski the highly impressive soloist. She brought  weight and gravity to the opening movement and a romanticism which never dwindled into sentimentality. The steely quality in her playing continued into the slow movement which was voluptuous without ever being indulgent. The attack we had sensed in the opening returned for the finale which was racy in approach and eventually allowed us to wallow in one of Rachmaninov’s most memorable melodies.

A rapturous reception provoked a fully justified encore which proved to be even more demanding than the concerto. She gave us the final movement of Prokofiev’s 7^th Sonata, spitting fire amidst the torrent of notes. Masterly.

After the interval we heard Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony. After the warmth of the Rachmaninov this all seemed very bleak at first, but Barry Wordsworth’s approach is not as cynical as some critics might wish. As the first movement progressed there were hints of hope – even in the midst of demonic militarism. Mood changes were clearly marked without over-emphasis. The cellos and basses made a great deal of the opening of the second movement and the whole provided genuine rather than reluctant enthusiasm. The Largo unfolded gently then took us on an inward journey to consider all that we have lost. The frenetic finale seemed honest rather than cynical and showed that there are many more ways of hearing this symphony than a simplistic political one.

The next concert brings us Schubert, Parry, Strauss and Elgar on 2 November.