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St. Mary's Anglican Church
May 26, 2012
To judge by the plethora of pithy quotes which have been made on the subject over the years, ambition has had a decidedly mixed press. On the one hand, Thomas Dunn would have it that "ambition is the germ from which all growth of nobleness proceeds"; on the other, according to J.M Barrie, "Ambition it is the last infirmity of noble minds".
How, then, do we view George Corwin's ambition, which he maintained for some four-and-a-half decades, to conduct Kurt Weill's Concerto for Violin and Winds? More importantly, how do we view the fulfilment of that long-felt want, which occurred on Saturday night?
Kurt Weill is not exactly a household name, although millions will be familiar with his best-known single piece, the song "Mac the Knife" (even though this exuberant Broadway show-tune version is a far cry from the sinister original, "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer"). Some may even be aware of the song's context and perhaps even know some of his other musicals.
But performances and recording of his instrumental music - he wrote two fine symphonies, for instance - are few and far between.
When, then, Corwin finally found in Pablo Diemecke and violinist who did not, on viewing the score, immediately become too busy, it not only enabled him to finally cross the Weill concerto off his personal "to do" list, it also enabled Victorians to hear for themselves some superb music superbly played.
Considering the reputation that the solo part of this concerto has, Diemecke made it look easy; indeed, I do not believe that I have ever heard him play better: his full, rich tone, allied to impeccable intonation and dexterous fingerwork all served to portray the music in the best possible light.
And what a fine piece it transpired to be! The brooding introduction, the melancholy, but noble solo melody on which the opening movement is built; the sardonic nocturne of the second movement, with its dramatic cadenza; the energetic and determined finale: Weill may not yet have invented the soundtrack of the Weimar Republic, but he was well on his way and this concerto is a milestone in his - and its - development.
And it must surely be the earliest violin concerto (it was composed in 1924) to include a part for the xylophone.
Corwin directed an outstanding accompaniment - the soloist is not the only one who has to work at this concerto - and it would be futile to attempt to single out individual players in this hand-picked ensemble.
This was a quite spectacular achievement by all concerned. I am left wondering how Corwin feels about an old Hungarian proverb: "when ambition ends, happiness begins".
Unlike their previous offering, which was all music in transcription, the works on Saturday's programme were all written for "harmonie".
Mendelssohn's Notturno is "better known" (I'd suggest "less unknown") in its version for concert band, but what we heard on Saturday was the original conception.
And a delightful, thoroughly charming work it proved, as, of course, did the performance. Although the andante is said to show the influence of Mozart, the clarinet in the opening bars sounded authentically Mendelssohnian to me and the spirited allegro which followed could have come from no other hand - although there were passage which clearly influenced Sir Arthur Sullivan and would not have sounded out of place in a Savoy Opera.
However, if you want really obscure, then Josef Triebensee is your man; admittedly in his day (around two centuries ago) he was extremely well-known, but such are the vicissitudes of history.
Triebensee's Partita in E flat closed the first half of the concert in fine style. The delightfully bouncy - if not especially thematically distinguished - opening movement featured some florid passagework for oboe, clarinet and bassoon; the exposition repeat was - thank you! - taken and its dynamics subtly varied second time around (would that more conductors did this, the exposition repeat was never intended to be a mere mechanical reprise).
The andante found Triebensee discovering some delightful unusual instrumental combinations; the minuet was great fun (although perhaps not, in the trio, for the horns) and the happily cliché-free finale tripped along in a jolly fashion until the close.
Not great music, perhaps, but thoroughly accomplished, beautifully played and highly enjoyable.
This was a marvellous evening's musicmaking; the Ensemble Pacifica and their remarkable Music Director go from strength to strength.
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