London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste

Saturday 2 February 2013

The daffodils have just started to appear on a bright and sunny day on the south coast, so we might be forgiven for approaching this Sibelius programme with some slight trepidation, given its combination of incidental music to Death and the Fourth Symphony, the most melancholic, not to say depressive, of the composer’s output.

That the experience was both enlightening and uplifting was a tribute to all involved. The concert opened with three movements from Sibelius’ incidental music to Kuolema (Death) written in 1903 and orchestrated in this version in 1910. Scene with Cranes is strangely Wagnerian in its string writing, trembling into life before the plaintive calls of the cranes. The Canzonetta found unexpected warmth, as if it was daring to be hopeful. Valse triste is familiar but becomes more involving in context. The dying heroine of the play is recalling dances from her youth, and the score contrasts the warmth and vitality of the memory with the present closeness of death and loneliness. They make a well balanced set; a pity we did not hear all of the incidental music.

After the interval the Fourth Symphony groaned into life from the depth of the strings, with a fine solo cello line from Josephine Knight, both at the start and throughout the symphony. The first movement proceeds by hints and whispers, frequently unresolved or drifting away. The largo has a resigned melancholy before the ferocity of the final Allegro which almost tears itself apart before giving up the struggle. That we were able to experience this desolation without actually losing hope ourselves was primarily down to Jukka-Pekka Saraste’s sensitive handling of the score which keeps its nervous energy ever alive rather than falling into self-indulgent misery.

Between these two we experienced one of the finest performances of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto that I can recall. The Norwegian violinist Henning Kraggerud may not yet be a familiar name in this country but I am sure it soon will be. His approach to the concert displayed not only a formidable technical ability but a range of tone which was able to change on an instant, highlighting the rapid, often fleeting, emotional states of the score. The final movement had a cheeky folk feeling to it and the broad grin on his face throughout reflected the joyous outpouring. That it was received with wild enthusiasm from a full house in The Dome almost goes without saying, and we were privileged with a brief and gentle encore for violin and orchestra. BH