Ravel : Alborada del gracioso
Lieberson : Neruda Songs (Kelley O'Connor, mezzo)
Ravel : Rapsodie espagnole
Falla : The Three-Cornered Hat, Suites 1 & 2
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Stéphane Denève
I love watching Ravel being played almost as much as hearing it. There's something unique about his orchestral music, you can see the music, the sound, being passed around the orchestra as clearly as if you were reading a score. Sometimes it's like a kind of Mexican wave, except instead of arms, it's a sound. He was such an extraordinary orchestrator, you have these massive forces on stage, and such subtlety of colour, and delicacy of timbre emerges. The Alborada was precise, restrained and fresh, and I had high hopes for the Rapsodie, but something odd happened during the interval. Half the wind section sat there checking, cleaning and/or changing their reeds; I've seen one do this often enough, but four of them? One cellist clearly had a problem with his instrument (a crack in the wood, a detaching tailpiece...?), and most unusual, after considerable deliberation, the timpanist discarded one of his timps, and finished the concert on three, rather than the usual four. Obviously some technical problem there too. The net result was that when everyone was back for the Rapsodie, I thought the orchestra was, well, a bit nervous. The faster movements went better than the slower ones, but it was not an entirely comfortable performance.
It's the first time I've heard the Neruda Songs complete, the occasion made particularly poignant by the recent death of the composer, Peter Lieberson. It's certainly easy enough to see why these songs became an almost instant hit. They were included in this season's programme as part of the orchestra's "Ten Out Of Ten" series - that is, ten works composed within the first decade of this century. Denève's commitment to contemporary music has been admirable, but in this case, the piece is barely in need of advocacy, unlike many of the others selected. The music is certainly very approachable; there's a strong undercurrent of Mahler there, particularly at the end of the third song, but I was also reminded of what I know of the music of Daniel Catàn (now there's a composer who could do with some advocacy, at least in this country). Kelley O'Connor has a warm, attractive timbre, her singing is clear and expressive, and there was some really beautiful playing from the orchestra.
After the tension in the Rapsodie espagnole, things relaxed, fortunately, for the Falla, except, I suspect, for the timpanist who, however well he coped, looked like he might be missing his fourth drum a bit. There were certainly some pretty nifty pitch changes required. However, on the whole, everything went well. A moment or two of shame for the horns, some of the rhythms not as marked as they could have been, but a strong sense of colour, some splendidly characterful playing from the winds (bassoon, in particular), enjoying the humour of the score, and an overall feel-good effect that put a smile on the audience's faces. An excellent end to a very enjoyable programme.
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