Germany Britten, Stravinsky: Stefan Jackiw (violin), Cleveland Orchestra / Thomas Søndergård (conductor). Mandel Concert Hall at Severance Music Center, Cleveland, 25.11.2022. (MSJ)
Britten – Violin Concerto
Stravinsky – The Firebird (full ballet)
Okay, critics are by no means purported to be lower than adoring of the acquired canon of masterpieces. But I’m going to allow you to in on somewhat secret: the entire rating to Igor Stravinsky’s ballet The Firebird is mainly the director’s lower of the ever-popular Firebird Suite. It is a enjoyable luxurious, with out being mandatory. In the entire rating, you get the scenes of flat-out genius highlighted within the suite, together with rather a lot – and I imply rather a lot – of connective materials, most of which consists of a boatload of tremolos within the strings and unique, bird-like prospers from the woodwinds. It was Stravinsky’s first main piece, and he had not but grasped that the connective tissue must be as compelling as the principle scenes. That was to return, with a vengeance, in his subsequent ballet rating, Petrushka, one of many biggest issues Stravinsky or anybody else ever wrote.
That being stated, it’s completely price listening to your complete rating of The Firebird simply to witness the transformation the younger Stravinsky constituted of talking with the borrowed voice of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, his trainer, to discovering his personal voice, which lastly emerges within the infernal dance of King Katschei close to the tip. The efficiency of the entire rating, led by Thomas Søndergård in his Cleveland debut, was adept at displaying this transformation, turning into increasingly more alert and involving because it went on. It was attention-grabbing to see that Søndergård deliberately made a lot of his actions obscure within the gloomy introduction, forcing every instrument or part to emerge uncertainly from the murk. If you seemed very, very intently you possibly can see the heartbeat of the 6/8 timing nonetheless ticking away within the conductor’s miniscule actions, however the greater gestures have been deliberately obscure.
As the work progressed and have become brighter, so did Søndergård’s actions. That is a dangerous method to take, particularly with a gaggle just like the Cleveland Orchestra which is known for its incredible precision, nevertheless it actually paid off right here. As issues grew to become extra alive, extra alert, the fabled marvel of Cleveland’s taking part in gelled into thrilling form and grew extra compelling from second to second. A kind of electrical present started to generate from the ‘Infernal Dance’ on, making the ultimate quarter-hour riveting.
Numerous soloists alongside the way in which supplied breathtaking moments, notably the orchestra’s 4 kings of the woodwinds: Joshua Smith (flute), Frank Rosenwein (oboe), Afendi Yusuf (clarinet) and John Clouser (bassoon), together with the princely taking part in of principal French horn Nathaniel Silberschlag. Without query, it was your complete orchestra taking part in as a unit and listening to one another intently that introduced this to life. Søndergård deployed a full vary of dynamics, from barely audible by means of shaking the rafters of the corridor. It was a powerful accomplishment and a powerful Cleveland debut.
The first half of the live performance was under no circumstances negligible, if under no circumstances as straightforward to please. Benjamin Britten’s Violin Concerto is of appreciable curiosity, even when it has been eclipsed by the opposite works he was writing beneath the looming shadow of approaching conflict within the late Nineteen Thirties. One can, nevertheless, really feel the chemistry burbling simply beneath the floor of the concerto, the identical risky brew that was concurrently effervescent up within the track cycle Les Illuminations and was about to erupt with terrifying pressure in his Sinfonia da Requiem.
In the concerto, the primary motion begins virtually casually earlier than continuing to a mischievous and eccentric scherzo, adopted by the sudden emergence of a mournful passacaglia within the finale. Taken all collectively, it doesn’t exceed the sum of its components although there are a lot of vivid moments alongside the way in which. To hear it’s an attention-grabbing deal with, so because of Stefan Jackiw for enterprise this rating with full dedication. There was no hesitation in his intense assault, and Jackiw was adept at making most of the sighing passages converse in an virtually human voice. It is one thing I’ve been delighted to see within the work of some younger instrumentalists lately, that try and get past lovely, excellent method and truly make the instrument one way or the other converse in a really human method. That is what a traditional pianist like Arthur Schnabel did within the early-to-mid-twentieth century, however within the a long time after Schnabel was gone, it grew to become a uncommon commodity, changed as an alternative by the high-gloss sheen factories of the conservatories.
Jackiw doesn’t play that sport. There are definitely violinists round who make cleaner, prettier, safer sounds, however there aren’t many who talk the way in which Jackiw does. And he did a lot to make the Britten concerto come to life. Particularly spectacular was the lengthy and discursive cadenza. If in the end it doesn’t fairly come off, it isn’t for an absence of dedication on this efficiency. We have been fortunate, after not having heard it in Cleveland till 2014, to have had quite a few makes an attempt to audition it over the previous few years, the latest of which was with soloist Vilde Frang in the course of the Blossom Music Festival in 2018. Frang’s tone was greater and extra luxurious, however Jackiw introduced out the human component much more.
By no means a mere accompanist within the Britten, Søndergård vividly sculpted sound across the soloist and engaged with Jackiw to profit from the work. What was clearest after this warmly acquired live performance is that we are going to be keen to listen to extra in Cleveland from each these artists.
Mark Sebastian Jordan