Sadly, whilst we are all in lockdown and isolation, with no-one able to go to a live concert, we are all finding alternative sources for our daily intake of culture and The Arts. Happily the BBC have Radio 3 to keep us with regular doses of beautiful music; and it is thanks to the BBC radio 3 recording a live concert performed last January at Manchester's Bridgewater Hall, that I was able to listen to this lovely concert given by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of principal guest conductor Ben Gernon.
The first piece in the concert was the lovely Scherzo Fantastique by Stravinsky. Composed whilst still a pupil of Rimsky-Korsakov, and not yet recognised by the wider spheres, this piece is based very much on his teachings, the Late Romantic movement, and of course Mozart. Stravinsky held the opinion all his life that he was in fact the modern reincarnation of Mozart and continued where Mozart left off. The Scherzo Fantastique is rather restarined, lyrical and melodic, and yet we can clearly hear the beginnings of what would become perhaps 'trademarks' in Stravinksy's music. Interestingly, Stranvinsky said of the piece that he was inspired to write the scherzo after watching bees and was fascinated by "the increasing work in the hive continuing for generations and generations, the nuptial flight of the queen bee, with the destruction of the male, her lover in the giddy heights!", although years later he denied this and said that the work was purely symphonic and had no "programme" or "theme" to it. True or not, we can clearly hear the bees going about their daily business in the piece and is perhaps a 'hat-nod' or 'homage' to Rimsky-Korsakov'e better known piece "The Flight Of The Bumble Bee". Whatever the case, the BBC Philharmonic did the work full justice in this concert and was delightfully played.
The second piece in the concert was by Stravinsky's muse, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and his piano concerto no:25 (K503). Although perhaps not Mozart's most well-known piano concerto it is certainly one of his more technically and expressively difficult, as well as being one of his longest. Written at a time of both personal and professional strife and unrest, the work is still ebullient and optimistic, resounding in the joys of both life and music. With a very light scoring (usual for the period) of just flute, 2 oboes, 2 bassoons, 2 horns, timpani and reduced strings as well as the piano, the piece is able to remain light and airy, which, in my humble opinion, is exactly how Mozart's music should be played. Playing the solo piano part this evening was Imogen Cooper. Cooper is no stranger to both Mozart and this concerto, and her love and connection to the piece was immediate, evident even listening on radio! The interpretation was personal and connected and her technical dexterity with the many scales and passing notes that appear in the score was irreproachable. I did think though at times, especially in the second movement, she became a little self-indulgent and this slowed the piece down a little. Hard to tell when not watching it live, but the second movenet did 'drag' just a tad for me.
The third piece on offer in this concert was a piece to connect the first two. Another Russian composer who respected and admired Mozart's work and genius, taking much inspiration from him. Of course I am writing about Tchaikovsky, and the music, his wonderful and highly accessible 4th Symphony. Surely one of the most striking, pompous and instantly recogniseable openings of any symphony: a fanfare loud and ironic, diminuendoing into almost nothing before the development of a rather torturous but pseudo-patriotic melody. The Russia of the time encapsulated perfectly in these two phrases. But the bombast doesn't end there, and is continued through to the end of the first movement and picked up again and extemporised further in the final movement. With a quiet almost restful second movement which, despite the lovely flowing melodies is still full of unrest and disquiet, and the third movement which starts with pizzicato strings before we crash headlong into the roudy and unrelenting final movement, this could be Tchaikovsky's most popular symphony. First performed in Moscow in 1878, this symphony, despite the political turmoil within Russia at the time, still remains a firm favourite with orchestras and audiences alike, reaffirming the joy of life that music can bring. It really doesn't matter how many times one listens to music such as this, it always manages to energise and revitalise the soul, and this rendition under the baton of Gernon, was no different; a stirring and authentic watchcry to life which deserved fully the extended applause that the Manchester audience afforded him and the orchestra at the end of the concert.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 28/3/20
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