Berlioz : Roméo et Juliette (extracts)
Wagner : Tristan und Isolde - Act 2 (concert performance)
Nina Stemme - Isolde
Robert Dean Smith - Tristan
Jane Irwin - Brangäne
Peter Rose - King Mark
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Donald Runnicles
The BBCSSO is marking the 2013 Wagner anniversary in its own, rather unique way, by performing Tristan und Isolde complete, but broken up into three distinct concerts, one for each act. The first was back in September, the last will be in April, tonight was Act 2. It was preceded by a selection of orchestral extracts from Berlioz's sprawling, even chaotic vision of Romeo and Juliet, that is so rarely heard complete largely because of the difficulty of execution. Wagner was, apparently, a great admirer of this score, and then there's the natural connection between the stories, two of the greatest tragic romances of Western literature, both deeply rooted in our culture.
The extracts were the opening fugato depicting the conflict between the two families, then came the long passage covering the Balcony Scene, and finally the Queen Mab scherzo. Runnicles clearly has some affection for this score, but although the playing was good, the problem was not unlike that I experienced with the CBSO and the Symphonie fantastique last year. To play Berlioz successfully takes a grain de folie, a certain willingness to take risks with the music and see where it leads you. There was certainly feeling here, but it was a bit too polite to really transport the listener fully into the turbulent world of Shakespeare's Verona.
No such problem with the Wagner. The orchestra gave a reading bordering on the incandescent, and coming very close to overshadowing the vocal soloists completely. The problem with concert performances of opera (as I mentioned last June) struck again - Robert Dean Smith was only just audible most of the time, and I know perfectly well he does not have a small voice. But he was standing in front of, and level with an orchestra playing full tilt, where normally he would be above and behind, and it made life that bit harder for him. That said, he's still a Tristan worth hearing; the voice is clear and youthful, and he sings the part with conviction.
He was well-matched by Nina Stemme's rich, warm timbre. She's the latest in the illustrious line of great Scandinavian Wagnerian singers, her voice lyrical, even voluptuous. There was a bit of a squawk on a top note in the first rush of the duet, but that's frequently the case, it's an awkward piece of writing at the best of times, otherwise she sounded comfortable in the part, strong and sure. Jane Irwin was an unusually bright-toned Brangäne, earnest and anxious. She delivered the first part of her warning in a curiously broken style, the phrases choppy, but too much so for it not to have been a deliberate choice, and I still can't quite think why. I would have preferred a more legato approach, and it's not as if she couldn't do it, because it came later on, in the second warning. Here too was the one quibble I had with the orchestra - the violin solo during these passages didn't sing out enough. Peter Rose was a fine, solemn, sonorous King Mark, and the thunderous applause which greeted the performance of all parties was well-deserved.
[Next: 10 November]
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