SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Debussy, Tchaikovsky, Lutoslawski: London Philharmonic Orchestra, Jukka-Pekka Saraste (conductor), Sergey Khachatryan (violin) Royal Festival Hall 20.2.2008 (CR)


This was an enjoyable evening with much to commend. Saraste’s interpretation of Debussy’s La Mer  was simple and straightforward, lacking in Romantic over-indulgence. He coaxed rich sounds from the low strings and the colour provided by a pair of harps was a welcome addition. Despite this, however, the first movement [De l’aube à midi sur la mer] felt a little disjunctive and did not really engage me emotionally. All was redeemed from the outset of the second movement, Jeux de vagues, with impressive displays from the flute and clarinet in the opening seconds.  There was much more sense of coherence here, with motivic ideas passing with agility from one section of the orchestra to another. There was some wonderfully controlled piccolo playing from the ever-brilliant Stewart McIlwham. The woodwind continued to be a driving force throughout, with some fine brass moments adding splashes of colour and a magical ending. Dialogue du vent et de la mer provided a dark, ominous and powerful finale, full of building tensions and drama, with the full force of the orchestra coming into its own.

The jewel in the crown of tonight’s concert was Sergey Khachatryan’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. His playing was astonishingly innocent, with his Stradivarius creating a pure sound, rich and extremely clear. This is a musician who means every single note of his performance, and it bowled me over. His interpretation seemed to restore the Russian spirit to this work, which we so often hear on western concert platforms. He used more rubato than I am used to hearing, but it was tastefully done; in fact, it was so convincing that it could have been notated by the composer. His playing offered a fresh perspective, and made me look at the work with new eyes. There were some exquisite moments; I hardly dared to breathe in the slower sections, for fear of missing something. The silence in the hall in some of the solo passages was so intense, one could hear the trains going by outside.  The slow movement was achingly beautiful, and deeply personal. In the finale, he captured the spirit of folk music with real understanding. The orchestral sound matched the clarity of the soloist and the sense of ensemble was excellent, providing gentle, well-balanced support and taking over with full power in the rich, enveloping tuttis. There were some well played wind solos which were also worthy of mention.

When listening to Khachatryan play, one cannot help but feel one is in the presence of a master. It is rare to find such a selfless soloist – one gets the sense with him that it is all about the music (evident at the end, when he acknowledged the conductor and front desk of first violins before taking a bow himself). During the encore, the audience was hanging off his every note. Exceptional.

The main draw of this programme for me was the Lutoslawski Concerto for Orchestra (the quality of the Tchaikovsky, then, was an extremely welcome and unexpected bonus!). I first encountered this work as a student, and I loved it from the opening ominous repeated timpani notes, with a low sustained pedal and cello theme, later joined by violas and horn interjections. The LPO’s performance was powerful and earthy; the repeated string chords have an obvious resonance with The Rite of Spring, and the orchestra’s strong, decisive playing captured all of its dark and brooding character. The haunting woodwind solos were played with finesse. Lutoslawski ‘s works have an incredible understanding of colour, and the harmonic resolution at the end of the first movement is magical.

The second movement was lightly played, displaying wonderful clarity of orchestration. This is a concerto for orchestra in the sense that it is a virtuoso team effort, demonstrating the variety of colours and textures an orchestra has to offer. The LPO gave the sense of playing as one, a single multi-faceted soloist with a vast array of variety within it. The playing was rhythmic, well controlled and exciting throughout.

The opening of the finale featured a beautifully played angular cor anglais solo, followed by virtuoso displays passing through the orchestra. There was some spectacular brass playing and an incredible intensity of emotion throughout. Lutoslawski’s use of dissonance and textures create an ever-present tension, with chorale themes at times reminiscent of a tortured version of Nielsen. His imagination, when it comes to orchestration, textures and colours is second to none; this is music that always evolves and takes the soul on a fascinating journey. Tonight’s performance was a faultless account of the work, capturing the emotions and driving forces within it.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable evening that left me both inspired and enriched, a testament to the quality of this excellent orchestra.

Carla Rees


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