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Christ Church Cathedral
July 20, 2016
In 1903, Fritz Kreisler visited Antonin Dvořák in his home in Prague. "It was like a scene from La Bohème, Dvořák was lying in bed, sick and in visibly bad shape. He had sold all his compositions for a mere pittance and now had nothing to live on. Even the emoluments for his brilliant American tour had for some reason or other been used up. I had been playing some of Dvořák's Slavonic Dances and visited the old man to pay him my respects. I asked him whether he had nothing further for me to play. 'Look through that pile', the sick composer said, pointing to a mass of unorganised papers. 'Maybe you can find something'. I did. It was the Humoresque."
A number of things strike the modern reader about Kreisler's tale, not least his referring to the 62-year-old composer as the "old man". It is also somewhat surprising to realise that the Humoresque, which for many years was one of Dvořák's most frequently-heard compositions, might have disappeared were it not for this visit.
On Wednesday evening, Michael Gormley and the Victoria Symphony took us through a selection of Dvořák's "greatest hits", including — a rare treat these days — the Humoresque.
Opening the concert we had three of the Slavonic Dances, the pieces which made Dvořák's name outside his native Bohemia. Numbers one and eight (perhaps the most familiar of them all) were extremely lively and yet there was a good deal of affection in the direction and a real sense of enjoyment evident in the playing. The gently swaying fourth dance was a delight.
Next came that Humoresque, which consists, it came as a something of a surprise to discover, of rather more than just the lilting melody with which it opens. Gormley directed it with a considerable amount of rubato, all very naturally handled and therefore unobtrusive. The overall effect was charming.
Quite why the Czech Suite, composed in 1879, should not be more often programmed is, I confess, a mystery to me. It is a truly delightful work which really deserves to be as popular as, say, the Serenade for Strings.
Gormley gave us the sousedská (menuetto) and final furiant, the former featured some quite delectable wind-playing, the latter was exuberant without ever becoming too forceful.
Finally, the greatest hit of them all, the "New World" Symphony.
Gormley directed a performance which, while it may have been a little restrained at times (I am thinking particularly of the finale) featured some excellent playing from all sections of the orchestra, demonstrating that Dvořák was a superb, albeit not showy, orchestrator.
The opening was wonderfully sombre, with excellent strings and winds; the main tempo was well-chosen, although I felt the tension dropped somewhat during the second subject, with some arguably over-affectionate lingering over the music in places. The final coda, though, combined excitement with stateliness.
The largo's pregnant opening gave way to Russell Baijer's outstanding English horn solo (one of the instrument's great moments); throughout the movement the winds were gorgeous and the strings possessed a wonderful translucence. And, as a former bass player, I must commend the doublebasses on their tuning in the final, divisi, chord.
After a vivacious scherzo, the finale opened with the majestic trumpet theme resounding throughout the cathedral, providing an all-enveloping sound. Arguably the clarinet theme which follows was simply too slow, no matter how delectably Keith MacLeod played it — which, of course, he did. Gormley's buildup to the great climax was very well handled indeed, although, as I hinted earlier, I felt the final coda needed to be a little more unbuttoned.
Those few minor carpings aside, this was a most enjoyable programme and a delightful way to spend a summer's evening.
The programme will be repeated on Sunday afternoon in the Bear Mountain Ballroom.
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