United Kingdom Debussy, Bartók, Elgar: Sunwook Kim (piano), Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra / Kirill Karabits (conductor). The Anvil, Basingstoke, 3.2.2023. (NB)
Debussy – Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune
Bartók – Piano Concerto No.2
Elgar – Symphony No.2
An spectacular and highly effective live performance of the three very totally different – however demanding – orchestral showpieces carried out by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra underneath their chief conductor for the final fourteen years Kirill Karabits who introduced that he’s stepping down from the position simply final month – he might be a tough act to observe.
Debussy’s Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune continues to astonish practically 130 years after it was written. Karabits’s method proved to be a touchstone for the music-making by way of your complete night. Passages of sun-drenched torpor are languorously indulged however then once more he’s keen to push the music ahead with a febrile depth. This will solely work when you’ve got an orchestra as well-attuned and responsive because the Bournemouth gamers are. The well-known opening flute solo was performed right here by principal Anna Pyne with a dusky mellow heat that caught in only a few notes the dozing warmth of a summer time afternoon. The collective string sound of the Bournemouth orchestra shouldn’t be as weighty or wealthy as some however as a substitute is a sinewy power and energy that was effectively suited to Karabits’s fluid method. Likewise the ever-excellent acoustic of the Anvil Basingstoke allowed the extraordinary element and precision of Debussy’s scoring to register proper right down to the shimmering crotales that shut the work. Given the drama and muscularity of a lot of the remainder of the live performance this was a ravishing and clever piece of programming superbly executed. Karabits performed this work and certainly your complete live performance and not using a stick – curiously the publicity images of him within the programme present him with a baton so whether or not this can be a current change in approach or one thing he felt applicable for this specific music shouldn’t be clear however all through he was exceptionally clear for the gamers each when it comes to placement of the beat and expressive intent.
The orchestra was joined by Korean pianist Sunwook Kim for a playful and athletic account of Bartók’s Piano Concerto No.2. It comes as one thing of a shock to understand that Kim received the Leeds International Piano Competition as way back as 2006 when he was simply 18 changing into – on the time – the youngest winner for 40 years. Seventeen years later he’s nonetheless a younger performer however with a mature stage presence and an nearly informal virtuosity. Bartók wrote the work for himself to carry out on tour however was clearly not involved about making the music straightforward to play. The soloist performs music of nice complexity for almost all of the work’s close to half-hour span. Kim’s specific ability was to make this work appear extra playful and agile than the percussive powerhouse it may generally grow to be. Of course he had loads of assault and energy in reserve too, however readability and articulacy have been the watchwords.
For the orchestra this can’t be a really acquainted work with accuracy of ensemble a selected problem as Bartók wrote passages of fragmentary however trickily intertwining complexity which can be onerous to suit collectively and straightforward to crumble. But once more Karabits was a mannequin of readability and the orchestral accompaniment was brilliantly achieved. One of the bizarre options of this work is that every motion is scored for various combos of orchestral devices. The first motion Allegro is a bustling toccata-like piece for wind, brass and percussion. The complicated interchanges between soloist and ensemble have been assured and articulate though for as soon as the heat of the Anvil acoustic resulted in a bit of blurring of the interior element. The distinction with the frozen harmonies of strings and timpani within the second motion Adagio and right here the poise and class of Kim’s taking part in was very evident as was his sparklingly clear approach within the closing Rondo. The efficiency and Kim’s taking part in particularly was warmly and enthusiastically obtained by the Anvil viewers.
In the course of Karabits’s fifteen years main the BSO I’m not certain how usually he could have performed Elgar, particularly the Symphony No.2 in E flat which is among the composer’s undoubted nice masterpieces – because the programme famous all of the extra cause to sympathise with Elgar’s emotions when he famous that the viewers on the premiere; ‘sat like a lot of stuffed pigs’. However a lot Karabits has performed these works earlier than this was a really spectacular, deeply felt and utterly convincing interpretation backed up by virtuoso taking part in from all departments of the BSO. At a stroke Karabits (as has Petrenko, Svetlanov, Rohzdestvensky and plenty of others earlier than him) proved that the concept that Elgar is not directly unintelligible to non-British performers was nonsense. For certain this was a risky, passionate and immersive expertise. Basic tempi throughout actions really feel effectively inside the ‘standard’ vary however inside these parameters Karabits was keen to push the expressive envelope in nearly a hyper-Romantic manner. Given that Elgar marked his scores with nice element particularly concerning the manipulation of primary tempi there’s a college of thought that encourages performers not so as to add extra rubati over and above the prevailing markings. Karabits selected his personal path – there have been moments when he lingered so lovingly over a phrase or second that the music risked stasis. However, the taking part in of the BSO was so focussed, so conscious of the longer musical line and so attentive to Karabits’s imaginative and prescient that what in lesser fingers may need lapsed into indulgence right here turned utterly absorbing.
The pacing inside actions was a delight – the good lament of the second motion Larghetto was fairly superbly constructed with instrumental traces piling up on one another earlier than reaching a cathartic climax. But then Karabits was keen to problem the orchestra’s virtuosity with the third motion Rondo – Presto crackling with power and dynamism. Watching an orchestra play this work you realise the extraordinary complexity and element with the rating. For the entire live performance Karabits had his violins sat reverse one another on the stage. Of all composers I believe Elgar’s music advantages most from this seating association. So usually he writes echoing or antiphonal phrases which have a spatial influence on this association fairly misplaced if all of the violins are sat collectively. But all sections of the orchestra are given moments to shine on this rating and on this efficiency shine they most actually did. The closing Moderato e maestoso once more benefited from a great mixture of well-judged primary tempo round which particular person passages might categorical the complicated net of feelings and impulses that lie on the coronary heart of Elgar the person and the music. This is an enormous work in a literal and metaphorical sense and right here it obtained a big-hearted but refined efficiency – once more warmly obtained. I’m wondering if any of Karabits’s Elgar has been preserved – if not it actually deserves to be on the proof of this efficiency.
An wonderful live performance – among the best I’ve heard the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra give.
Nick Barnard