United Kingdom Tippett, Beethoven: Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha (soprano), J’Nai Bridges (mezzo-soprano), Sean Panikkar (tenor), Solomon Howard (bass), London Symphony Chorus (chorus director: Mariana Rosas), London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Antonio Pappano (conductor), Barbican Hall, London, 23.3.2025. (JR)
Tippett – A Child of Our Time
Beethoven – Symphony No.9, Op.125
I struggle to find enough superlatives for this concert which, even this early in the year, will undoubtedly go down as a highlight in my concertgoing year.
Antonio Pappano, in an interview at the start of the season, said he looked forward in particular to this concert, though adding that some might feel him foolhardy to programme two major choral works in one concert. He succeeded admirably – and the ultimate message in both works is remarkably similar.
First, Tippett’s bleak A Child of Our Time which was composed between 1939 and 1941. The shooting by a young Polish Jewish refugee in Paris of an official led to the infamous Kristallnacht in November 1938, the Nazis attacking the property of all Jewish people in Germany. My mother witnessed it first-hand at her home in Germany and left almost immediately thereafter for the relative safety of England. The work always therefore has a particular poignancy for me. Sadly, the work is still sickeningly pertinent to the human condition – genocide just goes on and on.
The chorus takes a high profile in this work, telling the story, being a frenzied, threatening crowd of persecutors, and singing five African American spirituals; the work follows the model of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Passions. The chorus was superlative in all sections, though the sopranos had the hardest task, often starting on high notes – not everyone succeeded cleanly. Mariana Rosas, their chorus director, did well to try to get the singers to sound something akin to Black slaves.
The American tenor Sean Panikkar (born of Sri Lankan parents) was the most impressive of the four soloists, his timbre fitting the role of the victim perfectly. American mezzo-soprano J’Nai Bridges had a warm tone but her diction sometimes let her down. South African soprano Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha is a frequent Pappano singer of choice and can do little wrong – her gleaming top notes and stage presence make her a firm audience favourite. Solomon Howard has a rich, dark, bass voice but somehow managed to look and sound out of place.
The orchestra were on exceptionally top form and Pappano had the measure of Tippett’s complex cross-rhythms. Had this work been given in the second half, it would have received a standing ovation. This was a moving performance of a thought-provoking work.
The standing ovation from the sell-out Barbican Hall was kept for the end of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Pappano’s reading of the ‘Choral’ Symphony never let the long work’s energy sag for an instant, Pappano driving the work forward with muscular dynamism and intensity. Pappano was majestic, almost brutal in the opening Allegro ma non troppo. The orchestra pulled out all the stops, I highlight the sweetest oboe (Juliana Koch) and Nigel Thomas’s timpani for his energy in the Scherzo. The strings in the slow movement were silken, Pappano coaxing out great tenderness and articulation from them. Cellos and double basses dug in and blended magnificently at the start of the Finale.
Pappano placed the soloists in front of the chorus and the chorus director had jumbled them all so that they were not placed in distinct registers. I was not convinced of the end result of that, but it certainly did no harm. The chorus sang by heart, and their German diction was faultless. High notes, stamina, volume were all very much in place.
The soloists added their fine contributions; again, I felt Solomon Howard’s dark tone and diction was not ideal for his interjection of ‘O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!’
The symphony’s ending with its glorious vision of an ideal world of brother- and sisterhood as well as tolerance left its mark and brought the house down on a memorable concert.
John Rhodes