BBCSSO, 19/4/2012

J.S. Bach : Sonata No. 1 for unaccompanied violin - 1st movt.
(Jennifer Pike)
Vaughan Williams : Symphony No. 4
Vaughan Williams : The Lark Ascending (Jennifer Pike)
Vaughan Williams : Symphony No. 5

BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Andrew Manze

The ostensible reason for including one movement of a Bach violin sonata was that Vaughan Williams was a wholehearted devotee.  I'm more inclined to think that it was something of a makeweight.  "The Lark Ascending" lasts not quite 15 minutes; it's short, for a soloist.  Indeed, I'm still a little surprised when I see it programmed as the 'concerto' item in a concert.  I'm sure, when I was younger, it was more often performed just as an orchestral piece, with the orchestra's leader being showcased.  However, it's clear that the current fashion is to treat it as a number for a guest artist - I've got another example coming up in the new season - but it's really too short to stand on its own.

I like Jennifer Pike's playing, have done since she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2002.  However, tonight she was not quite at the top of her form.  Technically, there were a couple of instances of a slight unsteadiness at the end of a long phrase or note, and some squeezed notes in the "Lark" where the articulation was less than ideal.

The Bach failed to convince me.  Unlike Vaughan Williams, I am not an unconditional worshipper at the altar of Bach,  and tend to find the Sonatas and Partitas for Unaccompanied Violin particularly tedious.  However, I have heard performances that have at least convinced me that it is genuinely great music, even if I don't like it much, the latest being Raphaël Oleg a couple of years ago, so I know it can be done.  Tonight was not one such occasion, unfortunately.  The "Lark" went much better, on the whole, with the final ascent into the distance beautifully managed.

So the meat of the concert resided in the two symphonies, and they could hardly have offered a greater contrast.  If the Fourth Symphony is a scream of defiance and anger at a world that appears - for the second time in Vaughan Williams's long life - to be on the point of shattering, the Fifth, composed at the start of WWII and premiered in 1943, is a message of faith and hope.

While the fury of the 4th was well projected, with particularly spectacular playing from the brass, menacing in the extreme, I still felt that there was something missing from the overall performance.  It's hard to define; the piece is very complex rhythmically, with so much going on that it can be difficult to grasp all of it, particularly in the hall.  The really successful performances have a way of letting everything seem to fall into place effortlessly, and it all becomes clear, while losing none of the detail.  This was more of a struggle, the overall pattern never quite emerging clearly enough, even though the delivery was not really at fault.

That Manze and the orchestra are quite capable of supplying that 'click' of all the pieces settling into their proper place became evident in the scherzo of the 5th, which is also very tricky rhythmically.  Here, however, the constant metrical shifts danced by effortlessly and naturally.  The whole atmosphere of the 5th suited them much better, its solemnity and grace conveyed with complete conviction but no excessive sentiment.  There were some wonderful details too, particularly the start of the Romanza, with that shimmering haze of strings, so characteristic of Vaughan Williams, supporting the cor anglais solo.  Its end too, with its brief echo of the glorious "Serenade to Music", which had been completed immediately before Vaughan Williams began work on the symphony, was richly expressive.  The silence that followed the tenderly luminous conclusion of the symphony was an eloquent testimony to the strength of the performance.

[Next: 5th May]