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PROMS 2002
PROM 13: Schoenberg , ‘Gurrelieder’,
Geoffrey Mitchell Choir, BBC Symphony Chorus Philharmonia Chorus, BBC
Symphony Orchestra, Donald Runnicles, RAH, 28th July 2002 (AR)
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Christine Brewer - Tove
Jon Villars - Waldemar
Petra Lang - Wood-Dove
Philip Langridge - Klaus
Peter Sidhom - Peasant
Ernst Haefliger - Speaker
Gurrelieder is a hybrid work combining elements of opera, oratorio
and cantata. Premiered in Vienna in 1913, the work shows influences
by Wagner, Strauss and Mahler. The name ‘Gurre’ is an onomatopoeic allusion
to the cooing of doves that inhabit the King’s castle, and this rarely
performed work had the majority of the Promenaders engrossed in their
programme libretto with a sea of pages turning in unison.
The work is based on an old Danish folk legend which recounts the love
of King Waldemar for the maiden Tove. Waldemar’s jealous Queen,
Helwig, discovers the love affair and has the girl killed. Waldemar
grieves and curses God in his anguish; after his death, his impiety
is punished and he and his followers are doomed to ride abroad at night
for eternity.
Schoenberg’s sumptuous musical colouration reminded me of the shimmering,
vivid palettes of the composer's artist contemporaries Kandinsky and
Jawlensky, currently on show at the Royal Academy in the exhibition
Masters of Colour. The composer calls for huge forces: seven clarinets,
eight flutes, three bassoons, two contra bassoons, seven trombones,
four harps, celesta, eleven percussion, a huge body of strings as well
as five solo singers, a speaker, three four-part male voice choruses
and an eight-part mixed chorus. However, the composer uses these huge
forces sparingly for greater impact and intensity in the climaxes.
Donald Runnicles conducted Gurrelieder
as if it were a chamber symphony for a large orchestra, and kept tight
control of these massive forces. His tempi were broad and measured but
never dragged; he sustained a pulse that allowed the score to breathe
revealing great orchestral detail which is all too often swamped and
smudged. Clarity of textures and the handling
of climaxes were perfectly judged, lending the work a translucent delicacy
completely lacking in the recent recording by Simon Rattle and the Berlin
Philharmonic.
The BBC SO were in excellent form, particularly the woodwind section
with their seductive sound and perfect phrasing. What made this beautifully
prepared performance all the more remarkable was that it was given on
the hottest night of the year, transforming the Royal Albert Hall into
a high-Victorian Turkish bath.
Turning to the evening’s soloists, Jon Villars‚
Waldemar was curiously passionless and totally lacking in presence;
his performance could have been phoned in. By contrast, Christine
Brewer was well suited to the maiden Tove - warm, sensitive
and passionate with a broad range of colour and emotion. Petra
Lang’s Wood Dove could best be described as definitive; she
sung exquisitely with total assurance - a perfect fusion of artist and
role. Philip Langridge put great personality
and authority in to the character Klaus the Fool and Peter
Sidhom was a perfect sounding Peasant.
The small but important Sprechgesang role of Speaker was excellently
delivered by veteran Ernst Haefliger. The
old boy got extra enthusiastic applause. The three choirs acquitted
themselves magnificently from sotto voce to con belto.
Confronted by these huge forces and a daunting score, Donald Runnicles
nevertheless kept his nerve and delivered a powerful performance whilst
retaining discipline, precision and sensitivity. All in all, a sublime
if somewhat sweaty experience.
Alex Russell
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