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Varsity: 14/11/2008

Wagner, Finzi, Beethoven

Trinity College Chapel, Saturday November 8

The Beethoven Ensemble; Daniel Hill (Conductor); Alice Gledhill (Clarinet)

5 Stars

It is not every evening that one hears music-making of this calibre in Cambridge. The Beethoven Ensemble, period in size but rarely in practice, was conducted by Daniel Hill in a programme that appeared eclectic on first glance, but turned out to be astute and full of links between the works.

The highlight was Beethoven's Eroica Symphony, in my opinion the greatest of his nine. After the first few minutes, I thought I was going to be disappointed: I was expecting aggression, strongly accented cross rhythms and crushingly vicious timpani. Yet by the end of the first movement Hill had provided an utterly convincing interpretation. His hero (Napoleon, Beethoven himself, whoever) was deeply noble, not needing to stress violence; our hero was exciting but solemn, going about his business with gravity, mystery and a good deal of humanity. Mystery came in the wonderfully still sections just before the development and recapitulation of the opening movement. A human side came through in the occasional frayed edge in the playing, which only emphasized the difficulty of the piece. There were mistakes, yes, and I still occasionally yearned for more characterful phrasing, but these were very minor quibbles at such a high standard.

In the Funeral March came sombre gravity, especially in the winds. Mystery returned at the opening of the scherzo, through a rare precision in the pianissimo strings. The confident horn calls of the trio aped those of Wagner's her in the Siegfried-Idyll. The first movement's humanity returned in the finale, beginning with wit, then taking in bubbly winds and a cheekily played string quartet variation. There was a breast-beating arrogance to the central dance-like section, and the coda's climax was taken ferociously quickly, but once again it worked well. I will be surprised if I hear better Beethoven from a student orchestra.

All this leaves little space for the Seigried-Idyll and Finzi's Clarinet Concerto. The Wagner was tenderly loving in its quartet opening, yet confident in the horn calls from Siegfried; there was a certainly about the interpretation, as if Wagner's love for Cosima, for whom it was a birthday present, were as eternal as that of the Ring's heroes.
In the Finzi, soloist and orchestra blended well, with no sense of a battle between them, nor a domination of the piece from either side. Gledhill displayed a gorgeous variety of tone, moving from gentle to frightening.

David Allen
www.varsity.co.uk

Varsity: 28/11/2008

Suor Angelica

Trinity College Chapel, November 20-23

The Beethoven Ensemble; Daniel Hill (Conductor); James Hurley (Director)

5 Stars

The plot of Suor Angelica focuses first on the uneasy contentment of the sisters of a convent, then on the heroine Angelica as she deals with a visit from her viciously cold aunt, a princess, who tells Angelic of the death of her illegitimate son, born seven years previously. In a fit of grief, Angelica concocts a potion and kills herself, conducted up to heaven by a choir of angels.

The opera was given a stunning performance by the this all female cast. The single act was clearly split into two parts. In the first, the chorus of nuns were given a fairy like quality through intuitive lighting and Puccini's sickly scoring: each sister was well acted, in particular the cheekily late arrivals right at the beginning of the opera. The giggly glee that came as the chatted in the opening moments turned to false happiness as they collectively dreamt of hidden desires.

The arrival of Angelica's aunt heralded a complete change of mood. Lynette Alcantara's sensitively sung princess was perhaps a little too nice, but her clomping heels and haughty demeanor contrasted well the the passion of her aria which told of the shame Angelica had brought upon the family by bearing a son. Yet the undoubted star was Lisa Wilson, in the title role. She was powerful but tender, showing real urgency in her demands to hear news of her son. her lament on hearing of his death was addressed almost entirely to Trinity Chapel's alter, and she managed to bring a poignant weakness to her high notes. Her suicide, cradling an invisible child in her arms, surrounded by her fellow nuns transporting her to heaven, even managed to escape the trap of melodrama.

The directing from Hurley was admirably economical, using the surroundings well, even if certain aspects jarred. The suitcases that dotted the floor symbolizing the emotional baggage each nun brought to the convent seemed unnecessary, and the plastic bag in which one sister carried the alms was simply tacky. However, the portable spotlights were particularly effective in the closing moments as the chorus closed in around Angelica and slowly turned off their lights one by one, eventually ending the performance in complete, solitary, darkness. The Beethoven Ensemble were passionate in their playing, and though standards were not as high as their last concert a few weeks a go, it did not detract from the performance as a whole. What did was the baffling lack of a translated libretto in the programme.

David Allen
www.varsity.co.uk

Varsity: 31/01/2009

4 Stars

Bruch's Double Concerto is a rarity on concert programmes. On the evidence presented to us by e Beethoven Ensemble, however, it ought to be more regularly heard.

Tom Gould and Rosie Ventris were utterly convincing exponents of the solo parts. Beautifully matched in their full-bodied tones, they played almost as one: Ventris' viola was naturally the more brooding of the couple, suggesting a more melancholy alter ego to Gould's piercingly pure violin. is was reected, too, in their physical movements. Gould was the more histrionic, his expansive gestures contrasting well with the dogged sobriety of Ventris.

The opening Andante began with grandiose drama, giving way to still call and response sections, with the viola a soothing balm to the violin. Phrases were caressingly moulded, and the orchestra provided appropriately wistful, Straussian carpets of sound. The central Allegro moderato again showed how well suited the soloists were to one another. The finale's brass introduction could have been cleaner and more arresting, but sparks flew as Gould and Ventris turned on the virtuosity, over a curious mixture of orchestral pride and torment, reecting the roles of the soloists. This was a magnicent performance.

The Bruch followed an unimaginative, if polished, performance of Mozart's 31st Symphony. A fairly early piece, despite its numbering, this is quite obviously the work of a master still learning his trade. The first movement is little more than a procession of themes, and conductor Daniel Hill didn't quite make them any more than non-descript (rather oddly, I was reminded of Bruckner). The slow movement's violin melody was surely played, but lacked light and shade, and though the finale's quicksilver opening and crashing full orchestral entry brought more life to proceedings, it still needed extra invigoration.

Much the same could be said of Beethoven's 8th. For a symphony that emphasises playfulness and wit, this rendition was slightly on the heavy side; indeed, it was the tumultuously serious development section of the rst movement that made the greatest impression. Quiet, flickering string passages needed a little more mystery, and the nale would have beneted from a less episodal, more cohesive account. That said, playing throughout was top-notch, and these quibbles are based only on the high standards the Ensemble has set itself in earlier concerts.

David Allen
www.varsity.co.uk

Varsity: 28/02/2009

3 Stars

Intuitive programming once again from the Beethoven Ensemble, as Mendelssohn's Third Symphony echoed the overture to Mozart's Don Giovanni. The latter was given a weighty performance, with an almost deathly slow introduction that imparted a surprising amount of grandeur for such a small orchestra. This gave way to what became an exciting quick section, though string intonation could have been slightly clearer (although this may simply have been the fault of the acoustics).

Mendelssohn's Third, played nearly three weeks after what would have been the composer's two-hundredth birthday, opened with a first chord that wasn't entirely together. Yet this was an enjoyable rendition, if not as viscerally exciting as Mendelssohn-playing can be. The violins worked well, particularly in their exposed sections in the first movement's introduction, and the move to the exposition was vigorous. The turn to the minor close to the conclusion was magical, and the return to the introduction's themes brought out a sense of architecture rare in student conducting.

The second movement opened with brisk jollity from the first clarinet, and though the chattering winds were well phrased, some of the detail was lost in the tutti passages (though this is not Mendelssohn's clearest orchestration). The slow Adagio opened with another mistimed chord, but the strings displayed a wide variety of tone, from a mournful huskiness to a rhapsodic purity. The finale, however, dragged: a quicker tempo would have given a much greater sense of drama. The over-prominent brass often meant that the primary melody was obscured by counterpoint. Nevertheless, there was a suitably craggy air to some of the playing, and the flickering woodwinds near the end were highly effective.

Beethoven's Triple Concerto for violin, cello and piano, opened with something of a festive feel. The difficulty with this concerto, is getting the cello to project over both the orchestra and the other soloists: Broersma managed to do this well, especially in the elegiac lament with which the central Largo begins. There was a precision to orchestral parts, and the interplay between violin (Baillie) and cello was often electric, especially in their more virtuosic sections in the finale. Yet the first two movements never really came alive, just lacking that indefinable something that makes a decent performance great.

David Allen
www.varsity.co.uk