RSNO, 5/2/2012

Debussy : Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune
Barber : Violin Concerto (James Ehnes)
Stravinsky : The Rite of Spring

Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Stéphane Denève

Stéphane Denève has been programming a lot of Debussy this season, partly because now, in 2012, it's an anniversary year, partly because he's leaving and was sort of making a point of the Franco-Scottish thing, and partly because he and the orchestra have just recorded most of Debussy's orchestral works for Chandos, a two-disc set that has just come out.  However, while never really disliking Denève's Debussy, I've been a bit ambivalent about what I've heard, and tonight's Prélude was no exception.  Denève keeps his Debussy on a fairly tight leash, and in some of the lusher scores, like this one, it takes away from the sheer languorous sensuality of the music.  Of course it's possible to overdo it in the other direction, and more control is usually better than less, but I still missed the shiver of warmth you should get from that opening flute solo.

James Ehnes is an excellent Canadian violinist, and I was very pleased to finally get the chance to hear him live, after enjoying many performances via the radio.  If the first movement of the Barber concerto was a little detached, despite his singing tone, the slow movement was superb, tender and intimate, and the last was a dazzling display of pyrotechnics that never lost control, or sight of the structure of the movement.

The relatively short programme allowed Ehnes to indulge an enthusiastic audience with two encores, the 24th Caprice by Paganini, and the 3rd movement of the Sonata BWV 1005 by Bach.  As I've mentioned elsewhere, the Bach Unaccompanied Sonatas tend to leave me a bit cold, but the Paganini was everything one could wish for, effortless and colourful, stylish, polished, varied and just a hint of humour.  Definitely a performer for whom it's worth making a detour.

Somewhere in all the Verdi and Wagner we'll be getting next year, there should be a fair few performances of The Rite of Spring, as it too celebrates a centenary year, its first.  If audiences aren't inclined to riot these days, the impact of the piece has hardly lessened over the decades, and it's easy enough to see why it's classified as one of the handful of works that, almost literally, changed the face of music overnight.  Again, Denève was exercising tight control over the orchestra, with careful pacing, never letting the music run away (which can be easily done).  There was excellent playing from the brass in particular, with the trumpets playing with a crisp and acid-sharp tone, and raw, hoarse tone from the horns.

And yet... The audience reaction confirmed my thoughts, because at the end of a truly visceral performance of the Rite, the hall never fails to erupt, with a roar that's something of a combination of approval and a release of extreme tension.  It did not happen here; the applause was warm enough, but that extra something had been lacking, and we all knew it.  Such small things, that make the difference between good performances, and great ones.

[Next: May 8th]