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Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Langford
October 25, 2015
Quite the most bizarre recording of Dvořák's "New World" Symphony was made in 1961 by French conductor Pierre Dervaux. Its bizarreness (bizarrity?) conceals itself until the final bars, when - for who knows what reason - Dervaux decides that Dvořák was simply kidding when he indicated that the final chord should die away leaving just flutes and horns hanging in the air.
Instead, Dervaux has the entire orchestra hold their fortissimo until the end. This apparently minor emendation achieves two things - neither of them, I suspect, intended: firstly, and mostly, it completely undermines almost everything that has come before; secondly, as some sort of compensation, it does underline what a masterstroke that final diminuendo is.
It should go without saying that Norman Nelson did not indulge in any such lèse-majesté in the performance of Dvořák's most popular symphony which closed the Sooke Philharmonic's concert on Sunday night.
From the atmospheric opening on lower strings through to the full-bore finale, Nelson put not a foot wrong. His players were with him all the way, enabling some wonderfully affectionate lingering over detail in the first movement, for example, and a superb ratcheting up of the tension during the development.
The beginning of the slow movement featured excellent chordal work from the brass and winds; yes, arguably they were too loud, but they were in tune. Nelson took this movement very slowly indeed, but then it is marked largo, the slowest tempo marking in general use. The famous "Going home" solo on the cor anglais (English horn if you prefer) was beautifully played by Jacquelin Kereluk; all in all it was a most persuasive and concentrated performance of music which often seems to suffer from over-familiarity. Hats off, too, to the double basses, whose divisi final chord was also commendably tuned.
The scherzo was gloriously bouncy, despite a slight disagreement about the speed of the trio - on its first appearance, at least; things went better in the repeat. The finale grabbed the attention from the very beginning (the "Jaws" music) and never let go. Nelson's attention to both detail and the overall sweep of the music was impeccable - I loved his tenuto just before the big climax, for example, and I have rarely heard the final coda given with such intensity.
I'm sure the composer would have enjoyed it greatly.
Composers' last works always hold a, perhaps morbid, fascination. Listeners often tend to impute valedictory feelings even into works whose composers almost certainly did not realise how soon the Grim Reaper would be calling on them. A classic example of this is Mozart's last piano concerto, K.595, which, even if we accept the dating on ths manuscript (which has been debated) was finished months before the onset of Mozart's final illness.
When he embarked upon his viola concerto, however, Béla Bartók had already been diagnosed as suffering from leukemia, which was essentially untreatable at that time. Bartók knew, then, that he was engaged in a race against time which, ultimately, he was to lose: only the solo part of the concerto was complete, when he died; the accompaniment - finished by his pupil Tibor Serly - existed only as sketches.
For Rae Gallimore to choose this concerto to play in this year's Don Chrysler Concerto Competition was a courageous one - even seventy years after his death Bartók is hardly a household name. However, she clearly has the measure of the work and her performance on Sunday was one to win new friends for the music.
The work opens with the soloist sounding like a refugee from the Carpathian Mountains and Gallimore immediately impressed with her rich tone and evident sympathy for the music. The orchestra sounded totally confident in its accompaniment, despite the numerous tempo changes. There was some delightful interplay between soloist and winds, and Gallimore shaped the brief cadenza exquisitely.
The short slow movement was riveting, with hushed strings at the opening, fine bassoon work from George Kereluk and, throughout, playing from Gallimore which revealed a maturity beyond her years.
The finale possessed tremendous momentum and danced its way to its conclusion. Gallimore proved herself a truly worthy competition winner; she also sat among the violas for the Dvořák, the mark of a true musician.
The concert began with Sibelius' Karelia Suite; to be precise, the opening Intermezzo and closing Alla marcia, in which the orchestra were joined by a number of string students from School Districts 61 and 62.
Despite a few minor insecurities of ensemble and intonation, the performance was lively, with some excellent work from the brass and perky strings in the finale.
Another memorable evening from Nelson and the Sooke Phil.
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