Three substatial works were performed this evening, the first receiving its European Premiere in the prescence of its composer, Xiaogang Ye. It was an expressive and lyrical piece in symphonic poem style, and cleverly fused oriental rhythms and melodies with our own occidental styles. Starting with a solo flute, the piece rose and fell as we listened to all the sights, smells, sounds and happenings in an imagined 'Backyard Of The Village'. I knew nothing of this piece and had never heard of Ye before either. However, if this piece is typical of his oeuvre, then I am most certainly going to find more to listen to.
Following this, we welcomed guest pianist Maria Matveeva to play Saint-Saens' second (and better known) piano concerto. The concerto is one roller-coaster of a piece from ebulient start to flourishful finish. And not only does the concerto not follow the 'classical' rules it is also technically difficult and hugely demanding for the soloist. Starting with an extended solo piano (inspired by the music of Bach) the pianist is never allowed to breath until the final cascading chords are played. It's hugely lyrical and tuneful, and the listener is bombarded with melodies, harmonies and cleverness; but it never feels showy or pretentious; just superbly crafted late Romantic aural stimulation.
I have seen Matveeva perform before, and I think I recall making a similar comment the last time. Her playing is indeed wonderful, and I bow deferentially to anyone willing to take on this concerto, it is a true behemoth of a work for the soloist, but there were two things which I feel did not necessarily work in her favour. First, she likes the resonator pedal too much, meaning that the soundscape is at times a little blurriy, since we don't get a clear cut note but a resonated note, and so the following note is heard with the sound of the previous note still in the air. And second, this particular concerto features a lot of repeated phrases, and Matveeva played each phrase with exactly the same strength, emotion, timbre and volume. I felt just a little more variation of dynamics on these repeated short phrases would have been the cherry on the icing.
The final piece was Gustav Mahler's most popular symphony, no: 4 in G major. If anyone is unsure about Mahler or has never heard any of his music before, his 4th symphony is the perfect introduction. Full of sounds and music from his native Austria, his builds a mostly light work full of folk melodies and fragments of the world around him into a work of symphonic majesty. This work, around one hour in length (short by Mahler's standards) is also not your conventional symphony either. The four movements are given German (not the usual Italian) directions, and they don't follow the usual symphonic tempo pattern. More startling is that the final movement includes a poem for solo soprano. The text (by an unknown poet) is about a child who looks upon the world wide-eyed with innocent wonder, and looks at the heaven and its beauty. This idea of awe and the love of creation is carried through the entire work, and as such is one of the lightest and most playful of Mahler's ouevre. Alicia Cadwgan was the solo soprano this evening, giving a pitch-perfect and sympathetic rendition of the harsh Germanic text.
The whole concert was conducted by Rebecca Tong (only the second time I have had the pleasure of watching her conduct). She is a lovely conductor: passionate, considerate, showing a great love for and understanding of the works she is conducting, and staying true to the composers' intentions besides bringing something of herself to the table too. My companion came up with the anaolgy of 'a mother hen' and it is somehow apt. She did seem to be looking after all the component parts of the music in equal measure and caring for them. And of course, it really goes without saying that the RNCM Symphony Orchestra throughout all of this were absolutely superb! They are always a joy to listen to, and harking back to my opening remark, it is impossible to tell where student finishes and professional starts with this ensemble.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 1/2/20
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