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University Centre Auditorium
April 30, 2017
It was sometime around 1950 that the conductor Otto Klemperer happened to bump into George de Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (a distant relative, though not a lineal descendant of the composer) in Los Angeles. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (commonly known simply as "Mendelssohn") was the owner of the Vox record company, to which Klemperer was under contract.
Klemperer wanted to know how his recording of Beethoven's Fifth was selling and, despite Mendelssohn's assurance that it was selling well, insisted on seeing for himself. So they entered a nearby record store.
Klemperer asked the store clerk if they had Beethoven's Fifth conducted by Klemperer. The clerk did not think they did, but offered recordings by Toscanini and Bruno Walter.
"No", said Klemperer, "I really want it by Klemperer".
"Well, let's see; we have it also by Weingartner and Koussevitsky", came the reply, but Klemperer continued to insist.
After exhausting all the versions he had in stock, the clerk asked "when we have all these better recordings, why do you insist on Klemperer?"
"I want Klemperer, because I am Klemperer!"
"Of course," said the clerk, "and I suppose that's Beethoven standing next to you."
"Beethoven?" said Klemperer, now beginning to enjoy himself, "No, that's not Beethoven, that's Mendelssohn". The clerk paled and, turning to Mendelssohn said "I've always loved your Wedding March".
But it was another piece by Felix Mendelssohn, the Symphony No.3, known as the "Scottish", which led to the estrangement of Klemperer from his record company, when, while recuperating in hospital in Montreal, where he had broken his femur, he read that Vox had released "his" recording of said symphony.
Unfortunately, Klemperer had only recorded the first movement and rehearsed the second, before going off on tour. Mendelssohn had employed another conductor to complete the recording.
An acrimonious dispute ensued, with Klemperer writing to Mendelssohn that the recording was "a gross public deception". Mendelssohn agreed to withdraw it, but failed to do so.
The ultimate result was that Klemperer now felt able to accept Walter Legge's offer of an exclusive contract with EMI which, of course, resulted in some of the century's greatest orchestral recordings, with one of history's greatest orchestras.
He never recorded for Vox again.
What neither man mentioned in their dispute, but what is now generally accepted as the main reason behind the altercation, was Klemperer's habit of performing the "Scottish" with cuts and, in particular, either cutting or completely omitting the final coda, or indeed, substituting one of his own devising; although, as he wrote before a London performance in 1969, "every single note in my version is by Mendelssohn".
It was Klemperer's feeling that the "male-chorus character" of the final coda possibly represented the "clever Gewandhaus Kapellmeister Mendelssohn [getting] the better of the great composer Mendelssohn".
And if I am being perfectly honest, I must admit to a certain sympathy with Klemperer's point of view: play the music even slightly sloppily, add a triangle and you could easily have a more inebriated version of the end of Brahms' Academic Festival Overture which, in this context, is not intended as a compliment.
These musings arose because, even with the excellent playing of the Greater Victoria Youth Orchestra and the more-than-tasteful direction of Yariv Aloni, that final coda still did not entirely convince.
But let me instead concentrate on the positive aspects of the performance, which were many.
Due to a concatenation of circumstances ("thank you, Jeeves, I knew cats came into it somewhere") this was my first hearing of the current version of the orchestra and it was certainly worth the wait: this year's group is at least as good as its predecessors.
The symphony's opening featured excellent winds and violas, before the addition of cellos and basses brought an extra weight to what was already proving to be a fine overall sound. After the well-shaped introduction, Aloni smoothly transitioned into the main allegro, whose Scottishness, one realises, is not so much due to any actual ethnic melodies, but more to the similarity in feeling with sections of Mendelssohn's own Hebrides overture which, had both works not been conceived at much the same time, would have been a disconcertingly self-referential touch.
The scherzo featured the symphony's most memorable tune (which, at a stretch, could be considered slightly reminiscent of the bagpipes) and played with a marvellously bouncing perkiness by principal clarinet Erin Onyschtschuk. Although the movement featured some nicely delicate playing all round, it suffered no lack of vigour.
I was especially taken by the cellos' playing of the melody in the slow movement, with very tasteful pizzicato and wind accompaniment; and by Aloni's careful attention to dynamics in the closing bars.
The finale began almost attacca and had a delightful lilt. It was only really that coda, which seems to have been flown in from another work entirely (possibly even by another composer) which led to any disappointment. And my disappointment was not with the performers, but with Mendelssohn himself — and even he, apparently, had had his doubts.
While I doubt if I would never go out of my way to hear Mendelssohn's Third, this certainly proved far more enjoyable than I had anticipated.
There was more geographically-inspired music after the interval, in the shape of Smetana's Vyšehrad, the first tone poem in his cycle Ma Vlast.
Unusually for a tone poem (indeed, for any orchestral work) Vyšehrad opens with a fairly lengthy harp solo, on this occasion played superbly by the always-reliable Josh Layne, before the solemn horns added their weight, followed by the winds on fine form.
The entire performance was characterised by excellent playing from all sections and the numerous tempo changes were very well managed. I was especially impressed by the hushed final coda and the well-balanced and finely-tuned closing chord.
Which just left the Suite No.2, from Manuel de Falla's Three-Cornered Hat, which proved a real showpiece back in (if I remember correctly) the orchestra's twentieth season under the much-missed János Sándor.
Comparisons, however, are invidious and I do not intend to make any; I shall instead content myself with pointing out some of the performance's attributes, which were numerous.
The opening Seguilladas, opened in tranquil mood, yet there was a undeniable underlying vitality and the music became enlivened as it progressed.
The Farruca featured excellent solos from Justin Malchow, horn, and Theresa Mothersill, English horn. The music was atmospheric and deliberately-paced until its excellent final accelerando.
Finally, the Jota was a brilliant example of tightly-controlled exuberance, with very precise speeding up and slowing down before the final tumultuous climax.
A brilliant end to the season.
I would just make one small point in closing: the last dance of the de Falla requires vast amounts of percussion and there was one familiar face lurking by the bass drum. I am sure, though, that she had been given the job because of her outstanding musicianship, as amply displayed in her more usual rôle of cellist of the Lafayette Quartet, and that the fact that she is married to the conductor was merely serendipitous.
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