Review of Hallé concert conducted by Thomas Adès 21 November 2024

Thomas Adès conducts the Hallé. cr David Hughes, the Hallé

In the third of his four concerts as the Hallé’s two-year artist-in-residence, Thomas Adès brought a programme based on Sibelius. His own compositions featured in it, too, as is no doubt the expectation for his part in the orchestra’s Manchester programming – in the form of his 20-minute orchestral piece, Aquifer, and his Homage to Sibelius, which employs a violin soloist. That role was filled by Stephen Waarts, who also played Rautavaara’s Deux Sérénades, a kind of two-movement concerto from the end of its creator's life which had to be completed by Kalevi Aho – the premiere of it was less than six years ago.

Being based on music from one of his operas, the Serenades give the solo violin some vocalistic, sweet lines, with longing embodied in them, and Waarts’ lyrical playing was complemented by liquid, glowing tone from the orchestra, the woodwind fluttering around the solo like exotic birds. Both movements end without warning, as if in mid-phrase: a poignant reminder that their creator was nearing the end of his days.

Homage to Sibelius uses a much larger orchestra than the 29 strings heard in Rautavaara’s music, and the solo violin is relatively unsoloistic until around half way through the music, when, in contrast to the intertwining, chaconne-style descending patterns and scales around which the music is mainly built, he finds a rising path that finally climbs ever higher, even as the rest of the texture plumbs the depths. It was co-commissioned by Anne-Sophie Mutter and first heard at the Lucerne Festival in 2022. One of the ingenious features of the harmony is the way the bass notes change to create different tonal centres for the moving lines above them – something Sibelius knew about, too.

Liquid sound was also very much the essence of Adès’ Aquifer (as the title implies): this, with the large orchestra back before him, was at times very much water under pressure, though, with the opening of its seven sections erupting like a geyser to a big climax involving all seven of the percussionists on duty. By the time the central section comes, there is striking, uplifting theme for horns with jagged shards of sound around it from trumpets (and others), and after varieties of motion – increasing power, excitement and exhaustion – the theme returns, high and exultant, to make a tumultuous coda. The piece was written earlier this year to celebrate Sir Simon Rattle’s move to the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and feels very much a pièce d'occasion.

Adès’ abilities as a conductor have been, for me, the most rewarding aspect of his visits to the Hallé, and since Sibelius is one of his specialities it was thrilling to hear his readings of the Seventh and (to finish) Fifth Symphonies. Sir Mark Elder performed and recorded them with the Hallé respectively 14 and 10 years ago, so some members may have benefitted from that inheritance as well.

With Emily Davis in the leader’s chair, their playing of the Seventh under Adès was disciplined, clean and beautifully articulated: moments of warmth – almost sentiment – in the opening paragraphs leading to crescendi that ended in sonorous, indeed ecstatic climaxes; the tempo gradations all skilfully controlled.

The Fifth was equally varied and subtle in its opening, with well chosen emphases, delicate wind playing and finely built highpoints. The whispers of sound in the second movement’s “dim. possibile” and the slightly anticipated acceleration that followed were certainly effective, and likewise the springy tunefulness in its more relaxed moments. The last movement was a wild ride, of course, and (as ever) had to achieve something very tricky at the end: to create a sense of conclusion in those six explosive chords at the end, rather than have them seem an odd kind of surprise. They were completely precise, perfectly timed – and simply did the job.

 

 

To be broadcast on Radio 3 on 27^th November