As is becoming characteristic of Oramo’s programming
in Birmingham this appealing concert, broadcast live on Radio 3, featured
an English masterpiece alongside three highly contrasted American works,
a combination that brought along an encouragingly substantial audience
to Symphony Hall.
It is perhaps surprising to remember that On the
Waterfront was to remain Bernstein’s one and only contribution to
the medium of film music, partly a result of his anger (and not without
naivety as David Wilkins pointed out in his programme note) at the extent
to which his score was cut by the director. Bernstein strings his material
together not in a conventional suite but as one continuous movement,
basically symphonic in conception and packing tremendous punch alongside
the passages of tender lyricism that frequently bring to mind West
Side Story. The horn solo that reaches out at the beginning of the
work, the title music from the film, was beautifully played by principal
horn Elspeth Taylor who quickly recovered after mis-pitching her first
note. Indeed, it was to be the lyrical playing of the orchestra that
was to impress most during this concert, the melting flute solo at the
heart of the suite again a highlight as was its reprise towards the
close with a soaring trumpet line finely projected. There was at times
just the slightest feeling of the orchestra playing within themselves
during the more barbaric sections of the work, a feeling that was to
return at times during the second half performance of the Enigma
Variations.
Leon McCawley generated no such qualms in his magnificently
animated performance of Samuel Barber’s at times turbulent Piano
Concerto, an altogether grittier work than his earlier much loved
Violin Concerto though still with a typically lyrical central
movement exhibiting the more sentimental side of Barber’s musical nature.
McCawley stamped his authority on the work from the opening statement,
giving it powerful advocacy, not least in the impressive cadenza towards
the end of the opening movement. Oramo coaxed some finely delicate playing
from the woodwind in the Canzone, McCawley responding with finely
balanced and thoughtfully sensitive solo dialogue. The frenetic energy
of the closing Allegro molto with its driving 5/8 meter and splashes
of Prokofiev in the melody was vividly captured leaving me with an impression
of a charismatic soloist possessing a sound technique and admirably
clear articulation.
I cannot recall The Unanswered Question of Charles
Ives being posed in a more ethereal, profound or eloquent manner than
the stunning performance that opened the second half of this concert.
A quite magnificent stillness and quality of pianissimo from the strings,
top drawer trumpet playing imbued with a genuine sense of mysterious
awe and striking rhythmic clarity from the band of four flutes made
for a moving experience, a performance that seemed to capture Ives’s
intended "cosmic landscape" to perfection. Sadly, I equally
cannot recall being quite as disturbed at a concert in recent years
as I was here by the positive barrage of coughing that rained down on
the orchestra at one particularly sensitive moment in the score. A sad
way to mar memorable playing.
To the orchestra’s credit the misguided audience participation
did not seem to have any detrimental effect on their playing in Elgar’s
"Enigma", the more subtle variations being amongst
the most impressive. Nimrod was notable for its fluidity of movement,
Oramo never allowing the music to lose its sense of motion and being
all the more impressive for it. Dorabella was utterly adorable
in its charming, stuttering progress whilst the phantoms of the penultimate
variation were truly chilling. The slight feeling of restraint mentioned
earlier was occasionally evident in the faster variations yet overall
Oramo appears to be gaining stature in the classic English repertoire
by the concert.
An unexpected bonus of a brief selection of numbers
played by the trombone section of the orchestra in the bar after the
concert led to a presentation of six long service awards to members
of the orchestra, presented by Sakari Oramo in the presence of the orchestra’s
chief executive, Stephen Maddock. All well deserved and witnessed by
a good number of the audience who stayed behind to enjoy the atmosphere
and mix with the players.
Christopher Thomas
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