BBC PHILHARMONIC Bridgewater Hall
The distinctive thing
about Vassily Sinaisky’s reading of Mahler’s ‘Resurrection’ symphony (no. 2) with
the BBC Philharmonic and CBSO Chorus was that it didn’t attempt to keep the
full effect of its considerable resources of power and skill for the last pages
alone.
On the contrary, it
was characterised by extraordinary beauties and splendour throughout the
80-minute score, holding attention and catching the imagination at every point.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard an account in which there were so many passages where
I thought, ‘Yes, that’s exactly how that was meant to be.’
There was never any
doubt as to where its emotional journey was going, the textures were constantly
clear, transparent and well balanced, and from the outset we heard clear
shaping and articulation of the phrases, along with extraordinarily expressive
moulding of melody.
Sinaisky built the first
movement accelerandos to thrilling effect, and both at its close and that of
the second movement held the last cadence in dramatic suspense.
His tempo for the
second movement was gentle enough to prevent dislocations and still tense with
nervousness and yearning beauty, and the third was so nuanced in pace and
accent as to bring both surreal easefulness and a sense of nightmare.
Jennifer Johnson’s
singing of the mezzo role in the Urlicht movement and the finale was peerless,
pure and ecstatic, and soprano Olena Tokar added youthful sheen to the latter.
The CBSO Chorus’s singing was spine tingling in its intensity from the first
whispered chords, and they moved through a huge dynamic range to the paean of
the symphony’s final outpouring.
The Philharmonic’s playing
in all departments was wonderful to hear, with the brass resplendent in their
pomp. If I said the last pages were no surprise in view of what had gone before,
they were certainly no let-down either.
*****
Robert Beale
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