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First Metropolitan United Church
May 6, 2011
"So far as genius can exist in a man who is merely virtuous, Haydn had it. He went as far as the limits that morality sets to the intellect."
It is not easy to determine whether Nietzsche was damning Haydn with faint praise, or simply praising him. This is hardly the place to discuss Friedrich the eminent loony, nor (although I surely must do this one day) to go into detail as to why I prefer Haydn to Mozart, both of whom were represented in Friday night's excellent concert.
But, to begin at the beginning, the evening opened with three movements (Saturna, Galiano and Pender) from Brent Straughan's Island Arioso, a VCO commission receiving its first performance.
This is only the second work of Straughan's I have heard, but it confirmed that he is a composer of no little talent. Having visited none of the three islands in question I cannot comment on the music's descriptiveness, merely its inventiveness, of which there was plenty.
Saturna opens with pizzicatos - lots of them - but perhaps its most memorable feature was the passages for cellos: solo (the excellent Mary Smith) accompanied by the rest of the section, even at one point I could swear a cello duet (Smith joined by front desk partner Janis Kerr) with accompaniment from the rest of the section and the basses. Straughan conceived and the players produced some quite exquisite textures. Tuttis were big and full-sounding.
After a brief introduction, Galiano settled into a marvellously extravert Flamenco-style melody, complete with castanets (played, albeit not visibly, by flutist Alison Crone).
More pizzicatos opened Pender, then followed an accelerando that put me in mind somewhat of In The Hall Of The Mountain King, from Grieg's Peer Gynt.
But the chief interest, or perhaps I should say most unusual feature, was the use of a hatchet as percussion (violist Michele MacHattie, striking the blade, rather than setting about the stage, or worse, her fellow musicians) and a remarkable duet between the alto flute of Alison Crone and the musical saw of violinist Cathy Reader, played with immaculate intonation. (And, lest anyone think this is easy, allow me to point out that the flexatone was invented in the 1920s because of the difficulty of getting a good musical, um, sawyer.)
Straughan writes well and in an accessible (what today we should no doubt describe as "user friendly") idiom. If I had a single reservation it would be that, for me, the music was a little long for its material. (Mind you I felt the same way about the Mozart violin concerto which followed.)
Nevertheless, this was a most enjoyable work, brought to life with skill and dedication by Yariv Aloni and his players.
I suppose one should not be surprised at the frequent performances of the violin concertos of Mozart by the winners of the orchestra's annual Louis Sherman Competition.
Moreover, and not that it would be practical in any case, I really would rather hear a young performer play music that does not plumb the depths of the human condition - the Beethoven, Brahms or Elgar concertos for instance - before they are ready.
But, dammit, I wish there was a little more substance to the Mozart concertos.
The fact, then, that I enjoyed Eehjon Kwon's performance of the fifth concerto as much as I did - I spent remarkably little time glancing at my watch - speaks volumes.
After a sure-footed introduction by the orchestra, Kwon made a most confident solo entry, choosing her tempo, which was nicely picked up by Aloni and his orchestra, well. Kwon's technique was excellent and her intonation so good as not to draw attention to itself.
There were occasions throughout the concerto where I found her approach to the music a little "in your face", but this was only occasional and then restricted to the louder passages: her playing in the slower and softer music was just right.
Aloni and the orchestra provided excellent accompaniment, particular successful in the many tempo changes. And the swirling, chromatic passages in the "Turkish" section of the finale were beautifully executed.
Another worthy competition winner.
The evening closed with Haydn's Symphony No.83, second of the "Paris" symphonies and an indubitable masterpiece.
The orchestra was expanded with flute, oboes and bassoons for the "biggest" sound of the night and Aloni directed a truly marvellous performance, which gripped from start to finish.
The excellent attack of the opening chords led into a dramatic and impassioned exposition, complete with repeat (and when the performance is this good, I, for one, resent any omissions), lightened by the wonderful clucking passages for violins and wind which provide the work's usual nickname, the "Hen".
The slow movement, taken at a perfect tempo, exhibited meticulous dynamics and was quite lovely. The minuet was full of life and the skipping, triple-time finale possessed an unstoppable momentum. And all of this was delivered with an excellent, full-bodied sound from the entire orchestra. Undoubtedly some of the best Haydn I have heard in years.
The weather outside may, indeed was, thoroughly depressing. What happened inside was something quite different. A fine close to the Victoria Chamber Orchestra's Season season.
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