SYMPHONY CONCERT, Thursday April 9. At City Hall. CTPO conducted by Dmitry Yablonsky, soloists Oxana Yablonskaya (piano), Janna Gandelman (violin). Beethoven: Concerto for Piano, Violin, Cello and Orchestra in C, Op 56 (“Triple”); Schubert: Symphony No 8 in B minor (“Unfinished”), D.759; Stravinsky: The Firebird Suite (1919). DEON IRISH reviews
THIS concert truly was a tale of two halves, even if they were not the best nor yet the worst.
There were a number of problems with the Beethoven Triple Concerto, some perhaps attributable to the absence of an independent conductor, some to some poor execution by the performers. It was a nice conceit to have three family members, mother, son and wife, who are an established trio ensemble, perform the work en famille, and it certainly brought out the concertante nature of the writing.
Dmitry Yablonsky – who is a distinguished cellist in his own right – played the cello, which inevitably limited his ability to conduct. That is not as negative a statement as it might seem. There are opportunities to set the tempi, and maintaining sight-lines to the orchestra’s leader and to the principal cellist provides adequate control of ensemble, for the sheer physicality of playing itself imparts a rhythmic pulse.
What suffers more are the other aspects of the conductor’s role: the ability to shape dynamic balances between orchestra and soloists, and within the orchestral accompaniment itself; and the ability to subtly adjust the tempo to provide for the subtle quickening or slowing of pace to heighten the sense of phrasing or architectural structure within the music.
However, these inadequacies were less seminal than some frankly indifferent playing from the trio of soloists. Playing the relatively straightforward piano part (in contrast to the difficult cello part, it was intended for the young Archduke Rudolf), Oxana Yablonskaya made somewhat heavy weather of some of the arpeggionic passages, which should really have been bread and butter stuff.
Yablonsky and Gandelman as the string soloists didn’t always fare happily together, either; there was a notable passage of marital discord when a line of parallel passage work commenced, and remained, wincingly out of tune.
But there were also aspects of the performance to delight: the rhapsodic slow movement (an extended introduction to the finale, which Layton terms “a vast Neapolitan cloud”), was dreamy enough, with a beautiful cello solo; and the final captivating polonaise stamped its light-footed way through a variety of keys, both close and remote.
After interval, Yablonsky took his place on the podium to conduct beautifully executed readings of two marvellous works: Schubert’s loveliest symphony, and Stravinsky’s incomparable orchestration in music from his Firebird ballet.
The performance of the Schubert was characterized by a lovely sense of line coupled to ideally chosen tempi. The work has it anxieties, not least in the repetitive agitation in the violin figurations and the dark foreboding of some of the bass parts: but, in the end, the abiding impression of this account was of glorious melody and a serene heart.
Orchestra playing was generally good and there was a fine oboe solo contribution.
The concert concluded with the 1919 suite of movements quarried from Stravinsky’s Firebird ballet, which debuted in Paris in 1910 to enormous popular and critical acclaim.
Stravinsky received the commission for the ballet after Liadoff, originally chosen for the task, had proceeded so slowly that the impresario Diaghilev felt constrained to go elsewhere in order to meet the booked Parisian dates. The ballet was accordingly written in some hast; but there is no sense of that in the assured orchestration and glorious melodic lines of the score.
The ballet is fabulous, the music equally so; it shimmers, it glistens, it conjures in a novel manner much emulated by Hollywood film scores for “magical moments”, in sincere flattery. But it also has rhythmic drive and quirky rhythmic aberrations. Its genius is in sounding both traditional and innovative simultaneously. Yablonsky conducted with apparent affection for the score and the orchestra responded with some fine playing, characterized by lovely solo work from (in particular) horn, oboe and clarinet.
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