The Donald Runnicles Birthday Concert
Mozart : Sinfonia Concertante, K.364 (Laura Samuel, violin; Scott Dickinson, viola)
Beethoven : Symphony No. 9, "Choral"
Angela Meade, soprano
Elizabeth Bishop, mezzo-soprano
Stuart Skelton, tenor
Marko Mimica, bass-baritone
Edinburgh Festival Chorus
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Donald Runnicles
If the Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola was not written for the Mannheim Orchestra, it was very probably written in response to Mozart's encounter with this celebrated body. The Mannheim Orchestra was renowned both for the quality of its ensemble playing, and for the virtuosity of its individual members, and although Mozart probably took one of the two solo parts at its creation (in Salzburg in 1779), the concertante form, which was the natural successor to the baroque concerto grosso, suggests that Mozart wanted to exploit the possibilities of the orchestral soloist
Certainly any orchestra with aspirations to international status (and the BBC orchestras all qualify) must have, at the very least, section leaders of soloist calibre. There is too much music in the concert repertory which shines momentary but very intense spotlights on individual players. That said, I have more often heard this particular work with, let's say, specialist soloists, rather than orchestral soloists, so it was more than a little interesting to observe tonight's performance which featured the BBC SSO's principal violin and viola section leader.
What often makes the difference between an orchestral soloist and a concert soloist is as much (if not more so) a question of personality or charisma as it is of technique. Those who make a career out of solo appearances require a presence over and above their technique, and an artistry that marks them out as individuals. The members of an orchestra, on the other hand, are required to form a cohesive ensemble; too much individuality, and the pattern is unduly disturbed, the performance becomes ruffled and uneven. They can shine when the composer puts that spotlight on them, but must be able to re-integrate the body of the orchestra once that moment has passed. Samuel and Dickinson offered a serenely gracious reading, not as operatic as some I've heard, and not, in some ways, particularly distinctive, though never less than elegant. However, the orchestra offered its own strengths, good articulation, finely graded "hairpin" effects, and a delightful lilt in the rondo finale.
When Beethoven is being played correctly (regardless of the forces involved) there are, in almost all his works, instances of stillness (not necessarily silent) during which time seems to come to a halt, and in those moments, it is as if one can hear the universe breathe. There are few of his pieces, however, in which that happens as frequently as it does in the 9th Symphony. Right from the very first bars, you should have that sensation of communing, however briefly, with something infinite and indiscernible, and it was there tonight as the whispering menace of the opening unfolded into the stormy first movement.
Runnicles picked quite fast tempi; the scherzi galloped along at a brisk pace, relaxing only slightly for the pastoral trio, while even the lyrical Adagio was kept moving on, where there were one or two places I would have liked a little more breadth to the phrasing. However, it meant that the last movement came in roaring like a lion, and never looked back. Here was the Beethoven that cast his immense shadow over the next century of Austro-German composition, over Brahms, Bruckner, Mahler..., all clearly audible in these pages and in these hands.
There was a fine quartet of soloists, and it was particularly satisfying to hear a helden tenor here for once -- a Florestan, rather than an Evangelist, which has been my more common experience -- but above all, the Edinburgh Festival Chorus sang magnificently, bright, bold, clear and clean, reverential and exultant, an almost tangible expression of the joy so eloquently glorified in this music.
[Next : 14th November]
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