SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

SEEN AND HEARD CONCERT REVIEW


 

Edinburgh International Festival 2010 (1) – John Adams, El Niño: Soloists, Edinburgh Festival Chorus, NYCoS National Girls Choir, Theatre of Voices, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: James Conlon. Usher Hall, 13.8.2010 (SRT)

Jessica Rivera – Soprano

Kelley O’Connor – Mezzo

Willard White – Baritone

 

The Edinburgh International Festival began tonight in style with the large scale intimacy of El Niño. I should start by admitting that I have always had trouble with John Adams’ music – for me too much of it has seemed repetitious or insufficiently worked – but that was before tonight’s revelatory performance where this work really came alive. El Niño is, in many ways, a compendium of what is best about Adams. It doesn’t just contain trance-like minimalism, though there is enough of that in evidence: Adams’ unique take on the Nativity story contains yearningly lyrical moments which evoke the miracle of birth as well as cruelly unforgiving passages surrounding the Massacre of the Innocents, and the suggestion of transcendent peace in the final pages.

The Festival have pulled out the stops to provide such a marvellous cast of players to do this work justice. All three soloists have experience with Adams’ music: Jessica Rivera’s shiny soprano evoked pity and beauty for the descriptions of the Virgin Mary but took on an edge of chilling steel for the darkest section of the work, a poem describing the killing of hundreds of protesting students by police in Mexico City in 1968. Kelley O’Connor’s mezzo was a startling contrast: her smoky lower register was thrillingly adept at singing the poetry of Rossario Castellanos, evoking for me the cante jondo style of the flamenco. Willard White is widely associated with this music and his distinctive bass carried a burnished edge as he switched between the characters of Joseph and Herod: his diction was also incredibly fine, a reflection of his long experience in this work.

The most distinctive and interesting contribution, however, came from the counter-tenor trio of Theatre of Voices. The ethereal, sexless sound they produce stands in marked contrast to the intimacy of the soloists or the huge scale of the chorus and is probably the most successful aspect of the work’s structure. This very contrast means that they leaven whatever texture they are a part of and they both sang and articulated brilliantly, led by the peerless Robin Blaze. The singing of the Edinburgh Festival Chorus was first rate throughout, stunning as they layered dissonance upon dissonance at the high drama of the Massacre of the Innocents. They continue to improve as a group thanks to the outstanding work Christopher Bell has been doing with them.

Anchoring the whole was the virtuoso playing of the BBCSSO. Texture is all-important in this music, be it the glittering trills, the pulsating ostinati or the tintinnabulating percussion and every section gave a performance of genius. Key to this was the superlative direction of James Conlon who not only steered the huge structure with purpose but controlled each thread of the tapestry so that every guitar, celesta or synthesiser could have its moment in the spotlight when it needed it. A triumphant opening that whets the appetite for a magnificent three weeks.

Simon Thompson

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