The Dome, Brighton, Sunday 24 March
Barry Wordsworth brought the season to a fitting climax with the largest orchestral force we have seen in the Dome for a very long time. This was needed for an anniversary performance of Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.
The first half, however, was somewhat less demanding. Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian Easter Festival Overture is a rarity and one has to admit, having heard it, it is not difficult to see why. Though it has some fine orchestral colour, the structure is not evident and it appears regularly to peter out, only to start up again. Thankfully it ends with a flourish but that is rather too late to save the day.
With Ravel’s La Valse we are on far safer ground and this was given some splendid textures, from the trembling, hesitant opening to the brashness of the brass and wind at its ecstatic heart. It very much made up for the opening loss of direction.
Gemma Rosefield was the soloist in Saint-Saens’ Cello Concerto, bringing great warmth of tone and lovely moments of stillness. One of glories of this work is the composer’s ability to turn on the sixpence and insist we reflect on what we are hearing, as well as being swept away by the emotional force of the musical line. Gemma Rosefield’s approach was devoid of histrionics or overt emotion, and all the more musically satisfying for that.
The Rite of Spring may have caused a riot a century ago but gathered only a very large and extremely enthusiastic audience on this occasion. Not that the barbarity of the writing is any less evident. The aggressive brass playing and fierce woodwind – particularly the first clarinet – created not only excitement but a dramatic intensity often lost through over-familiarity. As Music Director of the Royal Ballet, this is a score Barry Wordsworth knows well and he brings an intensity to it which reflects that experience. It seemed that the more complex the writing, the more fluid and concentrated the performance became. It was a fitting end to a fine season.
The next season opens with an all Beethoven concert on Sunday 6 October. Be there! BH