HALLE ORCHESTRA Bridgewater Hall
The final concert of
the Hallé’s normal Thursday series (there is, of course, still the Dvořák
festival to come) was conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth, their principal guest
conductor, and offered several variations from the standard formula – if there
is one.
It had a choral first
half and a symphonic second half, for one thing – Bach’s Magnificat and Bach
arranged by Stravinsky to begin with, and then Schumann’s ‘Rhenish’ symphony
(no. 3).
The Stravinsky was a
reworking of Bach’s Canonic Variations on ‘Vom Himmel Hoch’, a typically
ingenious approach to baroque music from a time before authenticity became
important (the mid-1950s). Choir and a small orchestra serve up the original
contrapuntal lines, with some relishes added, making cantus firmus very firm at
all times and offering all the right notes (and then some), even if not in the
original right relationships.
The Hallé Choir sang
neatly and securely, and it made a stimulating prelude to the main dish of the
day, Bach’s Magnificat. Showing the breadth of his skills, Ryan Wigglesworth
was part-time harpsichord continuo player as well as conductor for this, but if
that was a gesture towards the manner in which the music might first have been heard,
it was about as far in that direction as things went.
Bach would no doubt have
expected a very small group of singers (with soloists emerging from the choir) and
a small orchestra, too, but this performance was much closer to the grand (and
rich) Victorian tradition of massed performers and had four invited soloists.
Nothing wrong with that for a hall as large as the Bridgewater, but it does
demand a different approach from that of the small-scale baroque specialist.
(Stravinsky
compensated for the absence of 18th century articulation technique
by putting in a harpist, stabbing interjections and in other ways – now it was
up to the army of performers to master the textures on their own!).
There were brief
moments of diffident attack, but the big sound was used to great dramatic
effect in Fecit potentiam and made an imposing pair of final choruses (the
chorus also took on the trio of Suscepit Israel, with real success).
The soloists – Sophie Bevan
(soprano), Christopher Ainslie (counter-tenor), Andrew Staples (tenor) and
Christopher Purves (baritone) – are all versatile and distinguished singers,
and the two middle voices shone brightest, with both strength and flexibility
in delivery.
The Schumann symphony
was further testimony to Ryan Wigglesworth’s gifts. I heard his reading of
Tchaikovsky’s second last week, and it’s clear he has a relaxed and effective
rapport with the Hallé. This time it was a scrupulously accurate reading of the
score that yielded enormous benefits: sonorous and smooth throughout, wind and
brass choirs blended and well contrasted with the strings in the Scherzo, and
with a touch of mystery after all the grandeur of the fourth movement. The
horns and trumpets were on top form for the finale, whose bouncing rhythms were
a tonic.
****
Robert Beale
No comments:
Post a Comment