The concert, which took place on 17 March, featured three
twentieth century works which are renowned as orchestral showpieces. They are,
in short, perfect vehicles for any orchestra to show what it is made of. More
so, if the orchestra is comprised of precious and developing talents of the
future, as the Guildhall Symphony Orchestra undoubtedly is.
[Image credit: Guildhall School of Music & Drama]
Lutosławski’s Concerto for
Orchestra, written between 1950 and 1954, was given an assured performance
under the baton of Guildhall alumnus and faculty member Roberto
Gonzalez-Monjas. The first movement impressed immediately with the imposing
and purposeful opening chords that united the harps and timpani. The dance
rhythms that dominate the movement were realised with a surety of purpose and
deftness of touch throughout the instrumental ranges. If one quality stood out,
it was the naturalistic blending and contrasting of instrumental sonorities,
which surely resulted from careful preparation that went into the performance
as a whole. Witness, for example, how the horns played off against the almost
bickering oboes and clarinets with the appearance of the second theme. The
middle movement gave a further opportunity for the orchestra’s instrumental
sections to showcase their quality. Whilst the speed required by the capriccio
was delivered by Roberto Gonzalez-Monjas’ aptly chosen
tempo, other qualities delivered a performance that emphasised the textural
aspects of Lutosławski’s score.
Whereas some music relies on volume to impress, Lutosławski
calls for nuanced playing and delicate layering of individual lines to achieve
his intended aims. These qualities were delivered in abundance. The
closing movement’s complex tri-partite structure presents challenges of
contrast and integration to achieve a performance that satisfies. Roberto Gonzalez-Monjas was fully alert
to these challenges, as were the orchestra. The Guildhall Symphony Orchestra drew
out the drama and playfulness within individual parts delightfully to realise a
score that calls for tour-de-force performance qualities.
Ravel’s Shéhérazade transported the audience away from
Eastern Europe and towards the Middle East through evocations tales from One
Thousand and One Nights. Ravel freely admitted Debussy was the
inspiration for the work and was intent on setting difficult verse and in the
opening Asie the normally restrained Ravel reaches heights of
near Wagnerian ecstasy as he reaches the words “Je voudrais voir mourir d’amour
ou bien dela haine”, penned aptly under A.J. Léon Leclère’s pseudonym Tristan
Klingsor. Singer and orchestra are packed off on this journey supplied with all
imaginable richness to deliver the listener as they recount a virtual Baedeker
account of Middle Eastern sights to the delight of ear and eye. The mezzo
soprano Laura Fleur proved a sensitive guide to such rich desires, her tone
creamy, secure of pitch and with occasionally veiled annunciation, whilst Gonzalez-Monjas provided reassuring guidance for the orchestra.
The contrasts of tone, with brightness to the fore, in the harps, celesta and
piccolo accented the second song, to which Laura Fleur brought a sense of wonder
through her use of the text. Then inferences of danger roused singer and
orchestra alike to a conclusion of some impact in the final song.
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