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S & H Concert Review
Debussy & Benjamin, LSO, Pierre Boulez, Barbican, 5th
October 2002 (AR)
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DEBUSSY Prelude L’après-midi d’un faune
GEORGE BENJAMIN Palimpsest I and Palimpsest II (World Premiere)
DEBUSSY Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien
Pierre Boulez - conductor
Sally Matthews - soprano
Alice Coote - mezzo
Sara Mingardo - alto
Thibault de Montalembert - narrator
London Symphony Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra
In the programme notes George Benjamin explains why he loves Debussy's
L'après-midi d’un faune: "In its ten minutes it achieves
total perfection. Every moment of it, from the very first note on the
flute is a revelation. Debussy achieves an almost tangible warmth and
richness of sound, and the harmonic language is almost unbearably poignant."
If only Boulez and the London Symphony Orchestra could have lived up
to Benjamin's description.
Whilst Boulez conducted with surgical skill, there was something rather
detached about his reading; often monochromatic and two dimensional,
the LSO’s playing was uncharacteristically mannered, lacking poignancy.
What was missing was the essential pulsating throb in the bass
line: poetry and rhythm were conspicuously lacking in what became a
largely pedestrian performance, for which the conductor must shoulder
much of the blame. As Mahler observed, there is no such thing
as a bad orchestra, only a bad conductor. Boulez is a fine conductor,
but this was not one of his best performances. Listening to Toscanini's
1936 General Motors broadcast concert of Debussy's work with
the New York Philharmonic makes clear where Boulez failed to ignite
the LSO.
The LSO showed more flair when playing George Benjamin's Palimpsest
I and Palimpsest II (World Premiere). In these works Benjamin
had clearly learnt the art of economy in orchestration so evident in
Debussy's L'après-midi d'un faune even if Palimpsest
I has clear echoes of Bartok's Music for Strings, Percussion
and Celeste. In the programme notes Benjamin writes: "Palimpsest:
a manuscript on which two or more texts have been written successively,
the original surviving only in fragments. The term can also be applied
to natural landscapes, even cityscapes, where the visible form is the
result of accretion through the ages."
In these intriguing works one hears a building up of layers of superimposed
textures. There was something very refreshing about Benjamin's orchestration
which allowed all these multi-layered textures to shine through even
when everything was going on. His subtle scoring for the percussion
created a subterranean sound world which served as a strong foundation.
In Palimpsest II the LSO brass played with
a deliberate stridency which suited these works, whilst
the violins played with a mordant, acidic attack. The double basses
were divided which curiously lessened their impact.
Both orchestra and conductor acquitted themselves admirably with these
complex and demanding scores.
As one would expect of Boulez, Debussy's Le Martyre de Saint
Sebastien was conducted with precision and was perfectly paced:
however, he only managed to draw a somewhat lack-lustre performance
from the LSO. Despite having a French conductor, this was French music
played with an English accent, and when the LSO Chorus came in it sounded
more like Walton's Balshazzar's Feast. The soloists however
were all superb - Sally Matthews (soprano) in particular giving a radiant
performance - whilst Alice Coote (mezzo) and Sara Mingado (contralto)
sang with great style and intensity. The French narrator delivered
his lines with passion and gusto.
I could never have imagined that this mysterious music could sound so
anodyne. Going back to Guido Cantelli's 1953 NBC SO concert of
the four orchestral excerpts from Debussy's Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien
was pure magic, pure mystery. On this occasion, the LSO
just seemed to lack passion and it seems odd that a French conductor
of Boulez' stature should not have produced a more French-sounding account
of these Debussy works from this versatile orchestra.
Alex Russell
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