SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Shostakovich and Schubert: Olga Sergeeva (soprano), Sergei Leiferkus (bass). London Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Harding (conductor), Barbican 27.03.2008 (CR)


Shostakovich’s Fourteenth Symphony is one of the most profoundly emotional of all symphonic works. In effect a symphonic song cycle, this is Shostakovich’s response to Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death. He sets eleven texts, by Lorca, Apollinaire, Küchelbecker and Rilke, most of which refer to death in different ways. The harmonic language is much more complex than in Shostakovich’s earlier works, and he frequently makes use of twelve-tone themes.

The scoring is minimal; Shostakovich makes use of just 19 string players (10 violins, 4 violas, 3 cellos and 2 double basses) with celesta and 3 percussionists. It seemed to take a little time for tonight’s performers to settle into this combination; they seemed uneasy in such small forces, particularly at the opening, with its haunting, high violin line.  In this work, there is no room to hide for any of the performers; they are all treated as soloists. This is perhaps symbolic of the vulnerability of death; no-one can hide from it, and everyone is (perhaps somewhat uncomfortably) exposed.

The opening movement, a setting of Lorca’s De Profundis, was made magical by the entry of Sergei Leiferkus’s bass voice. His performance was eloquent and deeply moving; the wonderfully dark tone of his voice contains a musical depth which transcends the text; I found following the provided translation was both distracting and completely unnecessary.

The faster, more rhythmic movements (such as No 2 and 9) were performed with precision and energy. There was a good sense of ensemble and the playing was dramatic, intense and darkly sinister.

Shostakovich’s use of percussion in this work is interesting. There are some exposed moments, such as the militaristic opening to Les attentive I (No 5), which has echoes of the composer’s earlier symphonies, and is an appropriate style for the text (He who is to die in the trenches this night). At other places, he uses percussion to colour the string sound (such as the col legno section in No 7), and at other times, he uses bells and slap sticks to halt the action (e.g. in No 3). This was all convincingly achieved in this performance.

The soprano performance by Olga Sergeeva (standing in for Martina Serafin) was highly communicative and deeply convincing. Her range has an astonishing evenness from top to bottom, and her movements did much to convey emotions and characters to the audience. For me, the highlight was Le Suicidé, movement 4, with its lilting soprano line, sung with true passion, against a mournful, and exceptionally well played cello solo (by Claes Gunnarson)

In general, this was an excellent performance, which was deeply moving and emotionally intense, despite a few isolated uneasy moments. Harding worked well with the orchestra, although I would be extremely interested to hear what he can produce in 20 or 30 years time, when he has more life experience to put into this profoundly powerful work.

After the Shostakovich, I scarcely wanted to hear any more music, much less the incongruent juxtaposition of Schubert’s Ninth Symphony, which seemed irritatingly saccharine in comparison.

Having said that, it was here that the orchestra really came into its own, with a return to the security of a full string section. The sound was richly sonorous, and there was distinct clarity in the dotted rhythms and woodwind articulation. In terms of orchestration, this is symphony is very different from the Shostakovich. The wind section add colour in the way that Shostakovich uses percussion, and Schubert uses only timpani and no other percussion. There are many dialogues between strings and wind, and some soloistic wind moments.

The first movement was played with some delicacy and the poise of early Beethoven, combined with the solemnity of Brahms.  The harmonic language seemed simple compared to Shostakovich’s, and I would have been interested to have heard the two works in reverse order, to give more effect to Schubert’s dissonances at climactic moments.

The second movement featured some beautifully played woodwind solos, with the oboe and clarinet most prominent. This movement is darker in mood and has the feel of going on a very long walk; in many senses, in fact, this is a symphony that takes the listener on a journey. Schubert has a wonderful sense of balance between light, shade, elegance and drama, and they are all heard here.

The third movement had a sense of lightness and the charm of a Viennese waltz, while the strong and flowing finale maintained its drive and direction throughout.

This was an excellent performance, and clearly a work that Harding felt passionately connected to. The orchestra, once again, provided proof that the LSO deserves its excellent reputation.

Carla Rees


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