Ireland Bryce Dessner, Stravinsky: Bryce Dessner and David Chalmin (guitars), Katia and Marielle Labèque (pianos), National Symphony Orchestra / André de Ridder (conductor). National Concert Hall, Dublin, 11.4.2025. (RB)
Bryce Dessner – St Carolyn by the Sea; Concerto for Two Pianos
Stravinsky – Petrushka (1947)
Ireland’s National Symphony Orchestra were joined by guest conductor, André de Ridder, for this concert of twentieth century and contemporary music. The first half of the concert featured two new works by the National Concert Hall’s current Artist in Residence, Brett Dessner. Dessner, is a distinguished composer, guitarist and member of the rock band the National.
The concert opened with Dessner’s St Carolyn by the Sea which is based on an episode in Jack Kerouac’s book, Big Sur. The work translates Kerouac’s surreal hallucinations into an evocative soundscape. Dessner and David Chalmin joined the NSO on guitars for this work. The quiet opening on strings conjured up the vastness of the Big Sur with its rugged landscapes and ocean views. Dessner and Chalmin performed a reflective duet with the orchestra which was redolent of the music of Steve Reich. As the piece went on the guitarists became an integral part of the orchestra and part of the musical fabric. There was a gradual build up in momentum and rhythmic complexity before the music ended on a triumphant note. The work had an immediate appeal and was clearly well received by the National Concert Hall audience.
Dessner composed his Concerto for Two Pianos for Katia and Marielle Labèque and the London Philharmonic Orchestra in 2017. Dessner shared the score with the Labèques as it developed to get their feedback and to be sure the ideas translated well to the piano. The Labèques joined de Ridder and the NSO for this performance.
The concerto is in three movements and follows the usual fast-slow-fast pattern. The first movement opened in scintillating form with the Labèques scurrying up and down the keyboard with intricate arpeggio figurations. Katia Labèque then played a motif consisting of four chords which much of the music is built around and which recurs through the piece. As the movement progressed, the Labèques joined with the orchestra in creating increasingly lush musical textures. The second movement opened in hypnotic fashion with the Labèques playing a repeated note surrounded by disembodied filigree figurations. There was an intensely beautiful lyrical episode on the pianos which again reminded me of Steve Reich and some of Dessner’s own film music. The Labèques joined with the percussionists to create some highly inventive sonorities towards the end of the movement. The finale was a highly energised and rhythmic piece of music (a nod here perhaps to Bartók). The Labèques showed their full technical arsenal dispatching rushing scales, rhythmic asymmetries, rapid fire repeated notes and powerful chordal attacks. De Ridder ensured coordination between the orchestra and soloists remained tight throughout. The Labèques were recalled to the platform and gave an exquisite performance of the Berceuse from Fauré’s Dolly Suite as an encore.
In the second half of the concert, de Ridder and the NSO treated us to a superb performance of Stravinsky’s Petrushka Ballet Suite dating from 1947. Stravinsky originally wrote his ballet for Diaghilev and the Ballets Russes in 1911. In the ballet, three puppets are brought to life by the Charlatan at the Shrovetide Fair in St Petersburg. Petrushka loves the Ballerina, but she rejects him for the Moor. The latter ends up killing Petrushka although Petrushka’s ghost appears at the end of the work thumbing his nose at the Charlatan. Petrushka is an extraordinarily original work which features new and original harmonies and dazzling orchestral effects, bitonality with the famous Petrushka chord and complex alternating rhythmic patterns. Stravinsky incorporated numerous Russian folk tunes into the score and experimented in a highly original way with colour and texture. Stravinsky thinned the ballet’s scoring in 1947, and it is this version which is generally performed nowadays.
Petrushka is something of a virtuoso showpiece for orchestra and de Ridder and the NSO certainly rose to the challenge. De Ridder clearly wanted to convey the theatrical narrative underpinning the work in this performance, rather than performing it solely as a concert work. The NSO created bright resplendent colours in the opening scene assisted with vibrant bird calls on flute and piccolo. The organ grinder tunes on flute, clarinet and percussion were enchanting. The Russian Dance sequence was highly energetic and richly coloured. De Ridder did an excellent job bringing out the highly intricate inner textures, dynamic contrasts and sudden shifts in the music. In Petrushka’s room the piano introduced us to Petrushka before joining with the orchestra to suggest the jerky movements of the puppet. De Ridder coaxed some startling dynamic contrasts from the NSO which helped to illuminate the scene and why the Ballerina may have found Petrushka so frightening.
Darren Moore did a brilliant job with the Ballerina’s exhilarating trumpet melody in the waltz scene and there was also some extremely fine playing from Catriona Ryan on flute. De Ridder let his orchestral players off the leash in the sequence of dances which open the final scene. The NSO seemed to relish the technical challenges Stravinsky was throwing at them with the constant shifts in rhythm, texture and dynamics. The final trumpet calls signalling the arrival of Petrushka’s ghost were suitably jarring before the piece ended ‘not with a bang, but a whimper’.
This was a first-rate concert featuring great playing from the NSO and all the soloists.
Robert Beattie