United Kingdom Gothe, Sibelius, Nielsen: María Dueñas (violin), Philharmonia / Santtu-Matias Rouvali (conductor), Royal Festival Hall, London, 3.11.2024. (JR)
Mats Larsson Gothe – Submarea
Sibelius – Violin Concerto, Op. 47
Nielsen – Symphony No.5, Op.50
This concert was part of the Philharmonia’s Nordic Soundscapes series, an opportunity for Santtu-Matias Rouvali (and guest Esa-Pekka Salonen amongst others) to perform music they have grown up with. The backdrop to all three works in this concert was a photo of the northern lights (changing from green to red after the interval for added effect) in a snowscape.
We started with a 13-minute piece by Swedish composer Mats Larsson Gothe; written as part of the ‘A Fragile Hope’ series of works premiered in Gothenburg earlier this year (Rouvali is also Chief Conductor of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra), composers collaborated with the Swedish underwater filmmaker Joakim Odelberg. Odelberg came on screen to introduce the piece and warn us of the ecological threat to our oceans. Gothe compared his piece to La Mer but inverted. His music’s point of departure is audibly Stravinsky rather than Debussy, with twinkly percussion and piano evoking the dappled sunlight which comes down through the murky water. The tuba player had his work cut out throughout the piece, at times evoking Jaws. The piece was rather disjointed, and the film concentrated on rather a lot of seaweed and a few large unattractive Baltic fish. I think the message might have come across more effectively if we had seen some plastic bottles on the seabed.
We moved swiftly on to Sibelius and a young Spanish violinist of whom I had not heard, but I had received good reports. María Dueñas is 23, hails from Granada, and has now made Vienna her home. She plays with many major orchestras and is audibly a rising star. There were few signs of nerves, she was on top of all the technical difficulties in the score, and as she matures and relaxes, there are clearly the makings of a top accomplished soloist. Her cadenza had the audience spellbound; the faster passages were a mite frenetic.
Nielsen’s Fifth symphony is an extraordinary work, by any measure. It only has two movements (though each movement has several sections) and in the first movement there is a battle between two snare drummers and the rest of the orchestra. The symphony was written towards the end of World War I, and the battle depicts the violent destructive forces that Nielsen must have witnessed. Nielsen directs the snare drummers to ‘improvise freely with all possible fantasy’. (Schnittke’s First Symphony has a similar moment when a pianist appears from the audience and goes up to the piano on the stage to interrupt the orchestra). The rest of the Nielsen symphony certainly has its moments, but is no real challenger to Nielsen’s masterpiece, his Fourth Symphony, the ‘Inextinguishable’, the only Nielsen symphony which Herbert von Karajan considered worthy to perform and record. I felt that Rouvali’s reading of the Fifth was not forceful enough, the orchestra seemed unduly restrained, perhaps a lack of rehearsal time was to blame. I missed some of the ferocity and wild abandon, which other performances and recordings demonstrate.
The performance was dedicated to Leif Segerstam, the Finnish conductor (and composer, violinist, violist and pianist) who died a few weeks ago. Segerstam, a larger-than-life figure, taught orchestra conducting at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki; Rouvali was one of his students. Segerstam was apparently very keen on Nielsen’s Fifth but did not perform it with the Philharmonia. The orchestra’s principal clarinettist introduced the performance wearing a Venetian mask, explaining that – in accordance with an idea which Segerstam had – he would wear a red mask when playing grotesque music in the symphony, and a golden one for the one warmer section in mid-symphony. The two snare drummers (on either side of the stage) entered wearing the costume and mask of the Venetian plague doctors, or the mask of death, covering the whole face to try to protect, originally, against catching the plague. The ghoulish long beak was the plague doctor’s trade-mark feature. It all added to the macabre nature of the work, but did feel rather like a gimmick, even just a few days after Halloween.
The Royal Festival Hall, sadly, had too many empty seats, a combination perhaps of a Sunday mid-afternoon concert (several of the older male concertgoers round me in the audience nodded off in the slow movement of the concerto, one audibly) and the choice of a symphony by a composer who is still rather unknown.
John Rhodes
Nielsen wrote for one snare drum only, not two. Confusion with the battle of timpanists in 4? The use of 2 drummers fitted the presentation and personally (to my surprise) I found the costuming very effective and disturbing. I rather liked the long-line lyrical approach from Rouvali (slower than usual?) I think the piece is very close to 4 in its power and elemental force. Mark van der Wiel’s playing was extraordinary.
One snare drum not two huge military drums! The offstage drum was far too loud
I have to say that I was very disappointed by the lack of tension in both movements of the Nielsen 5. The first movement in particular when taken at such a steady tempo sounded like a real plod. With no accommodation of tension the climax made little impact. Movement 2 fared little better.
I really expected more from Rouvali. Warmth and lyricism have their place in Nielsen but this tame performance never got off the ground.