Photo, Mark Allan
Thursday, August 3, 2023
Royal Albert Hall, London
Imagine what Franz Kafka heard when he had earplugs in (a regular adornment) to reduce the noise of the outside world, which he hated, however everyday. Gerald Barry does the deed in the thirteen-minute Kafka’s Earplugs (BBC commission: world premiere) for we are in the head of the Prague-born German-speaking novelist (1883-1924) for shifting sounds – formless, disturbing, marching sinisterly, always muted with subtle changes of timbre, exclusive to Kafka’s brain, disorientating – that make for compelling listening. A great piece; vintage Barry.
Central to the concert, William Walton’s wonderful Violin Concerto, written for Heifetz. James Ehnes was as ever technically immaculate yet he didn’t convey much of the score’s heart and soul, its languor and longing, the cosmopolitan warmth, stunning virtuosity in the second movement, mind, yet the greater perspective of the music, its emotions and scenic properties, were more apparent from the BBC Philharmonic and John Storgårds. However, Ehnes’s encore – the Finale of Bach’s C-major Sonata, BWV1005 – sizzled magnetically.
Sibelius’s First Symphony was given a seasoned outing (Storgårds & the BBCP have recorded the cycle for Chandos) opening with a suggestive clarinet solo from John Bradbury, unveiling mysteries of the deep, to where the Symphony will sink at its close, Storgårds leading a flexible, powerful (terrific timpani) and passionate performance, vividly pictorial (each listener to his or her own as to what), fevered, landscape-descriptive, contemplative, unashamedly romantic, calling to mind in the Finale, unexpectedly, Khachaturian’s written-later Spartacus, specifically the section used for BBCTV”s The Onedin Line. Sibelius an influence, perhaps?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001p2h0
https://www.schott-music.com/en/person/index/index/urlkey/gerald-barry
https://www.colinscolumn.com/sir-andrew-davis-and-the-bbc-symphony-orchestra-record-alban-berg-including-the-violin-concerto-with-james-ehnes-for-chandos/
https://www.colinscolumn.com/john-storgards-and-the-bbc-philharmonic-record-shostakovichs-twelfth-fifteenth-symphonies-for-chandos/
The solo heckler shouting “Rubbish” sat just behind me. Barry often/always receives such accolades and this mysterious and generally quiet work seemed designed to upset as many of the rather staid audience as possible. Surprised only one dissenter although the short applause spoke volumes.
Violin concertos simply do
not score highly at the RAH due to the vast distances between soloist and audience bar front line prommers. So it’s off to BBC Sounds to detect the many perceived though not heard feliciities I think were offered.
The Sibelius was the best I have heard in many a year, proud and passionate. Finnish to the core.(No sign of Tchaikovsky until the melody in the finale ).
Storm tossed passages mingled with pastorale interludes. In every movement. Highly original and quite unusual too. A performance in a million.
Agree with all of the above. The heckler was just to the left of me. I understood the story behind Barry’s piece, but I didn’t enjoy it. Nothing wrong with it, just not to my taste.
As for Sibelius – magnificent! As the programme noted from a RVW letter, Tchaikovsky’s finest symphony. Understand the sentiment, but to me Sibelius was very much his own man. There’s more Sibelius in the symphony than Tchaikovsky. To my mind anyway.
Well I have played back the Walton VC from last night’s Prom via my BBC Sounds app. I am not surprised I heard so little detail entering in Door J .
On the radio the soloist lacks impact and presence. This balance would not be tolerated on a commercial recording. I don’t really feel I received much pleasure from this broadcast balance let alone in the vast expanse of the Hall.
Edward, the sound for me on R3, live, was just fine – good balance between Ehnes and BBCP – probably down to Stephen Rinker’s expertise. Col