Philharmonic Storms Campus
As the evenings get progressively shorter until it seems the word afternoon has become obsolete, it is relieving to know that there are a few events that will brighten up the repetitive gloom. One of these was the visit in Week 6 of the BBC Philharmonic to Central Hall, conducted by Jan Pascal Tortelier, who played a spectacular programme to an enthralled audience. The Philharmonic are not just any orchestra – they are one of the leading ones in Britain having performed all over the world as well as being conducted by composers such as Copland and Walton. It was a treat to have them for the evening.
Tortelier’s presence added that extra edge to the concert. The energy which he brought to the hall was palpable. Sitting in the back row you could hear his excited intake of breath as he bobbed up and down, immersed in the music. Hailed as ‘one of the most exciting conductors to emerge from France in recent years,’ Tortelier has been working with the Philharmonic for over ten years and although he has stepped down as Principal Conductor, he has since been given the title of Conductor Laureate, the capacity in which he conducted in York.
The programme that the Philharmonic performed brought together Elgar, Bruch and Berlioz in an evening of musical excellence. Elgar’s Overture Cockaigne: in London Town began the performance with a rousing and rich depiction of London life at the turn of the century. Originally scheduled to perform Vaughan William’s The Wasps, the choice of Elgar was perhaps a strange one. Elgar’s Overture was written in 1901 when Britain’s was at the height of its Empire, and so played now at the beginning of the twenty-first century when Empire has again become an overriding pursuit, it offers an interesting parallel to modern day. Cockaigne, meaning ‘land of Cockney’s’, celebrates the diversity of the city from the pompous harmonies of the marching band in the brass to the birdlike chirpings of the woodwind in London’s parks. Elgar himself described the ‘noble melody’ of the overture with his favourite musical direction nobilmente and it is this feeling of uplifting celebration of the strength and history of London that the piece brings across. As if in a token to the Imperial motto that the ‘sun never sets on the British Empire,’ the themes and cadences at the Overture’s end were repeated with gusto untill the end.
Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No.1 in G minor was the soloist Boris Brovtsyn’s turn to shine. The three movements of Bruch’s concerto, written in 1866, offered Brovtsyn the perfect opportunity to display his virtuosi skills. Dressed in the somewhat informal attire of a black jumper and what looked suspiciously like jeans, Brovtsyn somehow did not seem to fit in with the smart dinner jackets of the orchestra. However, his dress and sombre manner (he didn’t smile even when receiving his applause) did not detract from his performance which was technically brilliant. The adagio offered a beautiful and haunting episode which descended into an almost dreamlike exploration of Bruch’s themes and the Finale which moved into the major as opposed to the minor of the first movement, rounded off a superb performance.
The second half of the concert was devoted to Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantasique, the showpiece of the programme. This work’s place in the history of classical music is renowned and although it is so well known, the Philharmonic’s performance brought delight to both first time listeners and Berlioz connoisseurs. Berlioz’s first title for the work for which he is most famous was ‘Episode from the Life of an Artist’, and this aptly describes his exploration of the programmatic symphony. Performed in five parts, the Symphony ranges from discordant rhythmic diversity, to lyrical calm and finishes in the climatic, all-encompassing assaults on the ears of the March to the Scaffold and Dream of the Witches’ Sabbath. Every section of the orchestra has their moment in Berlioz’s opium-fuelled exploration of the mind of the unrequited lover. From scalic passages in the strings, roaring themes in the brass, jaunty woodwind, and bubbling harps, to the fantastic explosion of percussion in the finale, the orchestra was not only a joy to listen to but a joy to watch. The audience, in registering their delight, might perhaps have sunk Central Hall several more centimetres into the lake with all their applause and stamping of feet.
Perhaps one of the disappointments in attending a concert on campus is the evident lack of students attending. There are opportunities to see some of the University orchestras perform in the Jack Lyons Concert Hall in December. Forthcoming highlights include The University Chamber Orchestra and Choir and the University Symphony Orchestra’s evening of Schumann and Wagner.
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