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Royal Theatre
January 16, 2012
Writing a review of a concert dominated by Sibelius' Karelia Suite and Elgar's "Enigma" Variations is a daunting task, assuming that most concert-goers are intimately familiar with both works and will have consolidated their preferences a long time ago. That said, how can anybody seriously dislike compositions that produce as much listener awe as these two? Wherein lies the key that unlocks such universal appreciation? Should it not be possible, using the formidable synthesizing power of modern computers, to extract the key and employ it to create immortal music now and forever?
The Karelia Suite is actually a subset of ten musical sketches that Sibelius composed on commission. The first of these, labelled Intermezzo, is a delightful march with catchy twists and turns. I hope I am mistaken, but I thought I actually heard muffled foot-stomping in the audience. The subsequent Ballade brings to mind Nordic trolls performing mischief in dark Finnish forests, while the concluding Alla marcia is reminiscent of Tchaikovsky's fairy-tale syntax in The Nutcracker Suite.
In his customary pre-concert talk in the vestibule, bass trombonist Robert Fraser lingered on Elgar's Enigma Variations and recounted several anecdotes as to how the work came into being. On one occasion, Elgar was experimenting with a new theme on the piano. He and his wife speculated what the theme might sound like if played by a dozen of their more colourful friends. Elgar thus painted a musical "caricature" of each friend - some lyrical, some affectionate, and some rather wicked. Even the family bulldog was portrayed falling into a river, clambering ashore and shaking itself vigorously, at the risk and peril of the bystanders.
The conductor, Tania Miller, repeated some of the anecdotes in her introductory speech before the Variations and encouraged the audience to try to detect the portrayed human and canine personalities. Indeed, some in the audience could not suppress their audible delight when they thought they had found a match. Knowing the background to a composition is said to enhance the listener's enjoyment. However, in the case of the Enigma Variations, I feel that this intense focus on anecdotes detracts from the musical content, and especially from the remarkable thematic unity throughout the work. How many listeners want to be reminded of a door-slamming servant, a stuttering girl or a bulldog falling into the river each time they set their minds on following a theme?
Wim Zwaag's contemporary Piano Concerto No. 2 broke the familiar mold of Sibelius and Elgar, and was perhaps the main attraction for the audience. The concerto had been billed as "Rach 5" in the announcements, alluding to its claimed links to Sergei Rachmaninoff's four piano concertos. The composer himself appeared on stage for a brief interview with Tania Miller and confirmed his sense of affinity with Rachmaninoff.
Claiming to be the successor of Rachmaninoff - even if only in jest - is a controversial move, because it raises sky-high expectations among listeners who know anything about Rachmaninoff's late-Romantic music. Zwaag's concerto, with Sara Davis Buechner at the piano, is indeed breathtaking in its melodic sweep and catchy rhythmic drive, to quote a newspaper interview with Buechner. The technical complexity of the piano part boggles the mind, turning Buechner's hands into a blur of fast movement and eliciting an admission from Zwaag that it is far beyond his own pianistic range.
In Zwaag's Concerto No. 2, the piano fortissimi are relentless, the themes are ephemeral, and the orchestra is seldom allowed to shine on its own. This is where his claimed ties to Rachmaninoff begin to fray, because Rachmaninoff's music is about more than sweep, drive and technical complexity. That said, the performance earned a standing ovation from the audience.
As someone who has not heard the Victoria Symphony play for some time, I sensed a new degree of spark and vigour among the players, as if a fresh breeze had blown away whatever artistic cobwebs had accumulated over the years. I can only guess that Tania Miller, the vibrant conductor and music director, should claim the credit.
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