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University Centre Auditorium
March 7, 2008
"Oh, how difficult it is to make anyone see and feel in music what we see and feel ourselves!"
Tchaikovsky was writing to his patron, Nadezdha von Meck, in 1878 some fifteen years before his final symphony; but I would venture to suggest that, in this last work if never before, Tchaikovsky finally achieved his wish.
And I have certainly heard few performance of this almost overfamiliar music which reached so unerringly for the work's emotional heart as the one János Sándor summoned forth from his young players on Friday night.
The first movement's progress from its ominous, tightly-controlled opening to the final coda, with "all passion spent" was an engrossing journey, featuring some marvellously lush, lyrical playing from the full orchestra, superbly-contoured crescendos and a tremendous climax underpinned by Corey Rae's excellent timpani.
The famous 5/4 "waltz" which is the second movement brought a tender interlude among the tumult, although the throbbing central section provided a sinister counterpoint to the lilting dance.
The third movement march is one of the most difficult in the entire symphonic repertoire to pull off: the music is repetitive, with numerous apparent climaxes - all too frequently the ending is an anticlimax.
János Sándor, however, has always been a master of the long line and the tightly-contoured crescendo and I have never been more aware of the fact than during this movement, his pacing and dynamics were superb and his orchestra played the music to the hilt - especially the percussion, clearly enjoying their brief yet vital contributions.
Before the performance Sándor asked the audience to refrain from applause after the third movement - a natural temptation.
And he was right so to ask. After the third movement had not so much concluded as collapsed under the weight of its own desperate exuberance, Sándor held his baton aloft for the briefest of pauses before beginning the finale - and the effect was devastating.
Once more the music flowed in a single huge arch, sweeping the audience along with the bleakness of Tchaikovsky's vision, until the final despairing divisi cellos and basses brought the symphony to its now inevitable conclusion.
I was evidently not the only member of the audience reluctant to break the spell and there was an almost deafening silence before the applause - a fitting mark of a performance of true quality. All concerned should be very proud of it.
Not even the work's most ardent admirer would claim that Stravinsky's Firebird has anything approaching the emotional depth of the Tchaikovsky.
What it does have is melody, scintillating orchestration (albeit owing more to his teacher, Rimsky-Korsakov, than Stravinsky was willing to admit) and rhythmic vitality.
All of which attributes were present and correct in Friday's performance, which showcased the latest, formidable edition of the UVic orchestra. Sándor directed a performance of immaculate taste and considerable energy, which resulted in a well-deserved standing ovation.
These are golden years for music at UVic; the School of Music is attracting some very talented students and in János Sándor they have a conductor of genuine stature and insight who is capable - as we heard on Friday night - of getting them to play with a maturity beyond their years.
An outstanding evening.
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