Friday 10 March 2000 Victoria Concert Hall |
BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY CYCLE |
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Charles IVES Three Places in New England
Carl Maria von WEBER Clarinet Concerto No.2 in E-flat, op.74 Ludwig van BEETHOVEN Symphony No.5 in C minor, op.67
MA Yue clarinet |
OVERALL NOISE RATING: 3 (Lots of bodily noises all round, especially from the Directors' Row and especially the usher on Level 3 - can we get
someone who doesn't walk in and out, move chairs, etc while the
concert is in progress?)
The Noise Rating Index is a partially-objective measurement of pager and handphone blasts, 9pm and 10pm watch beeps, coughing-during-the-pianissimo-bits, intra-audience conversation and other mind-bogglingly inept noises emitted in the concert hall during actual performance of music. It is measured on a scale of 0 to 5, in increasing annoyance.
by William Beh
Due to a traffic snarl - vehicles along Connaught Drive leading to
the concert hall were reportedly motionless for fifteen minutes - the
start of concert was delayed for ten minutes. Conductor Michael Stern
(don't ask me how) had been trapped in the traffic. The orchestra,
already assembled and seated on stage when the announcement came
(Percussion Principal Jon Fox can now add "pre-concert announcements"
to his credentials) amused themselves with total cacophony on the stage.
Whatever the reason, Stern managed to draw an idiomatic performance
from the orchestra. Rarely have been the brasses and winds so good,
and the strings even better, especially in the dissonant counterpoint
of the second movement, Putnam's Camp. It is perhaps worth
remembering here that this work, when it was premiered in 1930, was
roundly jeered by the audience; how far our tastes and expectations in
classical music have come since.
The programme notes - yes, again, courtesy of Dr John Howard -
quoted from Ives' own description of "soldiers marching out of camp
with fife and drum to a popular tune of the day" but then neglects to
specify - a critical omission - which tune. It was the march of The
British Grenadiers and not, as Dr Howard goes on to write in the
next line, spliced together from two tunes in 1912. No doubt the
sentence was referring to the entire work and not the
Grenadiers tune - but that is my point exactly: why mislead the
casual concertgoer with such poorly organized notes ?
Weber's Second Clarinet Concerto followed Ives. Again, Stern drew a
very convincing accompaniment from the orchestra for soloist and SSO
Principal Clarinettist Ma Yue. A pity that the clarinet suffered from
flawed intonation and a somewhat reedy sound, especially in the
extreme high and low notes, that was most unbecoming for a soloist.
The interpretation was not too imaginative, either. Perhaps a bit more
rapport between soloist and orchestra would have saved this reading
from being merely pedestrian.
The most anticipated work of the evening, Beethoven's Fifth,
came after the interval. I expected a dramatic reading with lots of
Sturm und Drang, a titanic struggle within the music, but what
conductor Stern presented was something else entirely. His was a
reading that was direct, incisive and simply lyrical.
He took the first movement with a great deal of intensity, as
compelling a performance as any which I've heard before live. The slow
movement was superbly warm and unfussy, and the final movement was
totally glorious, sending shivers down the nape of one's neck, yet
without being brashly overblown in the climaxes - a very common
problem in previous concerts. Of the Beethoven symphonies already
performed so far this season, this is one to stand alongside Lan
Shui's electric Eroica.
But, finally, we did get started, with Charles Ives' quixotic
Three Places in New England. This was, as far as I can
remember, the first time the SSO has performed this particular work -
not coincidentally, after the Malaysian Philharmonic up in Kuala
Lumpur lined it up in their concert season last year, perhaps ?
William Beh actually watches more movies than he attends concerts
(and that's really saying something)..
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666: 10.3.2000 ©William Beh
Readers' Comments
From: Matthew (teedum@iname.com / Thursday, March 23, 2000 at 13:05:45)
Hello. I attended this concert on the second night and I certainly agree with your opinions on a fine performance of the charles Ives. The SSO sounded in good form. The Beethoven however, although undoubtedly electrifying, came across as a tad too fast; this is especially felt in the inner movements. Coming to the Weber, from my own experiences as a clarinetist, I felt his tone, especially in the highest registers of the Concerto, wouldn't be what we call 'reedy'. On the contrary, it was full-bodied and had a fabulous projection. His lower notes however were't as 'full' and the sound were often distracted by 'air leakages' from the cheeks. I do agree that more imagination could have been called. All in all, it was still an enjoyable evening. Regards
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