Concert photo to follow
Sunday, July 21, 2024
Royal Albert Hall, London
Following his quarter of a century tenure, Sir Mark Elder’s final concert in London as Hallé music director began with Sir James MacMillan’s Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia (London premiere), setting John Dryden, written specifically for all the Hallé choral groups and a large orchestra. It’s surreptitious, consonant, clangourous, celebratory, sonorously dramatic and fresh-faced, reminding at times of Britten’s Spring Symphony, working through over twenty minutes to a serene satisfied conclusion, including rapt chorals and a beatific violin solo (Roberto Ruisi), and a brazen tintinnabulation before a subito pianissimo leaves a void to round-off an impressive, very likeable work that meets its brief in spectacular fashion, reciprocated in kind by this confident performance that followed two in Manchester a few weeks ago.
“Confident” may well describe the trumpet solo that opened Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, an account that radiated total faith in this five-movement journeying work, never once dragged into the showpiece arena by Elder’s considered approach that explored the music in detail and wholeness: this was a joined-up Mahler Five, emotions, structure and scoring welded as-one on a journey from despair to jubilation that was hard-won, Elder taking the long view, nodal points unerringly judged. The Adagietto fourth movement (strings and harp) was both intimate and restless, built with purpose to a heartfelt climax over exactly nine minutes. Love conquers all: Elder’s strategy was now evident, for despite the Finale’s musical complexities, there was light and triumph ahead, which is how this performance ended, on a high. And so to Edinburgh… but not before Sir Mark made a touching and witty speech and conducted a poignant rendition of Elgar’s Chanson de nuit.
Hallé Children’s Choir
Hallé Youth Choir
Hallé Choir
I am still en route home Col
A splendid new choral work from Sir James Macmillan up with Walton’s best and deserving being extended please.
A sanitised Mahler 5 built on firm foundations and gathering momentum until the glorious coda.
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If you don’t mean ‘sanitised’, what do you mean?
If you do mean ‘sanitised’, what do you mean!
I am not sure about their bells up style of playing for woodwind as very little sound radiates from the end of the instrument, ok for trumpets and trombones. Great playing from the Halle, fitting finale for Sir Mark Elder.
Mahler says bells up, so you play bells up. Visual effect really. He doesn’t ask the Corno obligato to sit on a perch above the rest of the horn section. Doesn’t do any harm though, and at least we can see who’s playing it.
A fitting au revoir to Sir Mark with Halle groups on top form.
However, once again viewers were let down by the producers on BBC4 with the usual lack of text to support the choral singing!
Yes, the choir were premiering Sir James (Macmillan) Timotheus, Bacchus and Cecilia in English ( think?), and the Halle choir are famed for their Northern diction, but as good the choral writing was, even with my Bose headphones listening via Bluetooth, I didn’t have a clue what these wonderful singers were singing about..?
Neither was there any support or help in finding text on line – disappointing in an age where the BBC are banging on about inclusivity…
Come on Producers, forfeit some of your impressive camera shots and think about your viewers struggling to understand what the singers are communicating!