Friday, 4 December 2009
Bridgewater Hall
4 stars
Aram Khachaturian’s Gayane, an atypical Soviet agricultural ballet most famous for its concluding wild Sabre Dance, was dashed off with noisy aplomb by the Philharmonic, revelling in the folk rhythms of the first and last excerpts yet also skilfully playing the delicate Hopak with sensitivity.
Luigi Dallapiccola, a relatively unknown name outside of Italy, composed the second ballet score of the evening, Marsia, a tale of the satyr Marsyas who, believing his musical abilities to be better than those of Apollo, challenges him to a contest, loses and suffers the consequences. Marsia exhibits the influence of twentieth century serialism and the lyricism of Ravel and Debussy upon Dallapiccola’s compositional style. The result was uncomfortable: the Philharmonic played dramatically, but the music sat uneasily between savagely dissonant passages and queasy impressionistic lyrical interludes which were neither convincing nor effective, leading one to understand why Marsia is so neglected.
The final part of the concert however was a riveting success: Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake was given a scintillating performance by the Philharmonic who were on top form throughout the richly Romantic score. Swan Lake was Tchaikovsky’s first ballet and shocked Russian audiences with its rhythmic complexity and dramatic emotional power. Quiet, introspective scenes contrasted with decadent and majestic marches demonstrating the virtuosity of each section of the Philharmonic. The famous Swan theme was given a seductive rendition, whilst a special mention of the harpist and principal violinist must be made whose duet in Act three brought the house down. As the music became ever more extravagant and dramatic, Noseda rose to the occasion admirably, pushing his orchestra onwards to the triumphant finale where the brass and percussion came into their own with powerful fanfares and runs: a corps de ballet was unnecessary to feel the full force of Tchaikovsky’s vision. With well-deserved applause, it was an excellent end to an interesting concert.
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