SYMPHONY CONCERT. Thursday 30 April. At The City Hall, Cape Town. CPO conducted by Daniel Boico, soloists David Nebel, Alexander Gilman and Danielle Akta; Respighi: Trittico Botticelliano; Waxman: Carmen Fantasie; Sarasate: Navarra for two violins and orchestra; Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme; Rachmaninov/Respighi: Cinq Etudes-Tableaux. Review: DEON IRISH
THE opening concert of the Autumn season reminded one rather of one of those delightful boxes of assorted treats, each quite different from the others, with the agreeable prospect of indulging in comparative evaluation afterwards.
Three of the works being concertos, with different soloists, there was also something of atmosphere of a competition about proceedings, with an orchestral introduction and a final orchestral piece whilst the jury undertook deliberations.
Dealing, then, with the orchestral works, first, both featured the great Italian orchestrator Respighi, albeit in differing roles. The Botticelli triptych of pieces are musical reflections on three of the artist’s celebrated paintings: “La Primavera”, “L’Adorazione dei Magi”and “Las Nascita di Venere”. Composed in 1927, the work is fully representative of the elegant inventiveness of the pre-Depression period, whilst at the same time reflecting the composer’s abiding interest in older forms and Renaissance culture.
Boico whizzed the orchestra into the busy opening, the buzzing violin trills surely implying an unseen insect presence, even if the diaphanous nymphs dancing on the flower-carpeted dell show no reaction to such? The writing has enough of the antique to recall the composer’s larger scale works in the form.
The Magi, The Birth of Venus
There followed The Magi, a depiction of the Epiphany painting, yet employing an Advent antiphon – the Veni Emmanuel. It always strikes one as a curious thematic choice: liturgically wholly inappropriate, but in its middle-Eastern modality a surprisingly appropriate musical depiction of a camel train trudging into Judaea from Eastern lands. A commendation to the bassoon and oboe duetists, and to the principal flute for some whirlwind arabesques.
Finally, the Birth of Venus, a gentle evocation of wavelets lapping the shoreline as the goddess’s scallop shell floats gently to beach. Beautifully captured, the writing did call into question the use of quite so large a string orchestra for what is essentially a chamber work.
The concert concluded with Respighi’s 1931 orchestration of Rachmaninov’s Cinq-Etudes Tableaux for piano. Written in response to a request from Serge Koussevitzky (who had also been the inspiration for Ravel’s orchestration of Moussorgky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition”in 1922), it provided a vibrant orchestral conclusion to the programme. Rachmaninov did not indicate the pictorial inspiration of his piano studies, but – having agreed to Respighi’s orchestrating them – revealed the pictorial inspiration behind each work.
They undoubtedly assisted the orchestrator: Respighi captured the exact moody evocation of The Sea and Seagulls, with incorporation of a reference to the composer’s Isle of the Dead. This movement was splendidly captured by Boico and the orchestra. However, both the next movement (The Fair) and the fourth (Red Riding Hood) suffered from a rather unbalanced orchestral projection. The elegiac Funeral March had much atmosphere, but was spoiled by some occasional poor intonation. Still, the vibrant final March with its chattering, shuddering, pounding, declaiming orchestral effects, proved a more than exhilarating conclusion.
The concerto contributions were of somewhat unequal import and effect. The brilliant young violinist, Nebel, was up first in Waxman’s showy Carmen Fantasy, a potpourri of themes arias and orchestral effects from the eponymous opera. It was recorded, to good effect, by Gilman and the CPO some years ago and is an agreeable enough showpiece for violinistic skills. Nebel has such aplenty and displayed no difficulty clearing the many technical hurdles presented by this work. But he is in danger of his talent: the mere fact that one can play a passage faster than anyone in recorded history has ever done, does not mean that one should. The only record to be broken here is that of musical import and the final episode of this account was too fast for audible reception, for orchestral ensemble or for any coherence in the rich acoustic.
This was followed by an utter delight: Sarasate’s Navarra for two violins, an easy listening but devilishly difficult confection based on the Spanish dance form. The orchestration truly takes a backseat to the pyrotechnics delivered by the duelling instrumentalists, Nebel being joined by his mentor, Gilman, in a captivating account that was as technically assured as it was musically invigorating. Bravi!
The principal solo work of the evening was Tchaikovsky’s lovely Rococo Variations, a winsome concoction which gives the soloist considerable opportunity to display all aspects of her art. In this case, the astonishingly youthful Danielle Akta performed with an assurance that belied her teenage years and kept us engrossed with a fine account, sympathetically if not always crisply accompanied by Boico.
Her bowing arm has a flexibility that ensures even and measured tonal projection and her left hand showed splendid intonational accuracy – until the very final octave episode, that is, where one suspected sheer lack of physical size made the stretch not quite comfortable.
Info: 021 410 9809, luvuyo@cpo.org.za
Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra: www.cpo.org.za
WS
