Elgar : Sospiri
Richard Strauss : Death and Transfiguration
Glass : Symphony No. 6 "Plutonian Ode" (Lauren Flanigan, soprano)
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Nicholas Collon
One last concert for the season, while Glasgow basks in what is very probably the only real summer weather we're going to see this year (20 degrees, at 10 p.m.? Amazing, and very bask-worthy!).
This was a nicely calculated, progressive build, from the elegiac quietude of the Elgar to the high-octane intensity of the Glass. "Sospiri" did seem like something of a make-weight - I don't recall it being in the original programme - but this lament for a world about to end was delivered with quiet grace. However, it readily made way for one of the best performances of "Tod und Verklärung" I have ever heard, dynamic and powerful, beautifully layered, expansive without dragging. It's early Strauss, and it can have its longueurs, but not under Nicholas Collon's baton. Strauss is one of the great orchestrators, and we got to revel in the detail without ever losing sight of the big picture, as well as luxuriating in the richness of sound from the orchestra, playing truly magnificently.
Collon brought exactly the same attention to detail, and passion, to the UK premiere of Philip Glass's 6th Symphony. It's immensely refreshing and exhilarating to see a young conductor really enjoy the score he's conducting so much. Collon's enthusiasm for the music was practically palpable, and contributed very greatly to the overall impact of the piece.
It's a setting of an Allan Ginsberg text, a protest against the nuclear age and a prayer for some greater power to bring peace. First performed in 2001, Lauren Flanigan was the soloist then as now. She's a particularly American type of high lyric soprano (as are, for example, Dawn Upshaw or Heidi Grant Murphy), and American singers are usually taught to enunciate clearly - it's one of their greatest attributes. However, it has to be said that Glass has never really been much of a melodist, and it's blatantly obvious that word setting is not something to which he attaches a great deal of importance.
This may seem an odd thing to say, considering how many operas he's written over the years, but paying closer attention to them, it's clear that where there is a coherent text (which more or less excludes the first, great, "biographies" trio), the actual flow of text is not given anything like a natural setting. Furthermore, no singer could possibly be heard over the barrage of the full orchestra, at its most rhythmically intense (the end of the first movement) without serious amplification. Glass treats the voice as another instrument, and while the text may inspire musical ideas for him, the words themselves are not interpreted for us. It's not that the end result is bad, but one needs to take a step back from it, and not expect a vocal interpretation of a text.
Still, you come back to the fact that a Glass score in sympathetic hands - and Collon's were more than adequate! - is a viscerally exciting experience, and tonight was no exception. The composer was present in the hall; I hope he was happy with the performance, because I certainly was, and I shall be keeping an eye (or ear) out for more of Nicholas Collon in the future.
[Next: 5th June]
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