TEATRO LA FENICE PRESENTA...
 

Michel Tabachnik

dirige Debussy, Messiaen e Schumann

Orchestra del Teatro la Fenice

Teatro Malibran, sabato 04 aprile
 

di Kate Samways

 

 

Collegamenti:

- Teatro la Fenice

In a concert which was in parts uninspiring and less than surprising, I was surprised to see so many different faces in this, the world’s only self-preservation orchestra as I looked up expectantly from my programme. This got me thinking about why we, as an audience, traditionally applaud an ensemble of people whom we might have never heard play before.
However, along with tradition, after the applause came the first note and it was obvious that this was the same orchestra as the last time but happily for my ears, there came a piece of music which I wanted to hear. This, Debussy’s “Prélude à l’Après-Midi D’Un Faune” (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) started with a delightfully played flute solo, being both soft and pure. There were also some notable moments of unison strings playing along side the harp. The piece as a whole was magically quiet and phenomenally orchestrated with the only downfall for me being the leader’s solos, lacking both oomph and tone in my eyes.
Following that were Messiaen’s “Poèmes Pour Mi”, Mi being Messiaen’s sweetheart of the time of composing, and not the key as I first thought! This piece which was at the same time uncomfortable to listen to but also fascinating, was very well executed in my opinion. By this I mean that the “dramatic” soprano part (Caiello) was sung with heart, precision, and indeed drama, whilst the orchestra added their own touches of colour to an on-the-whole strange timbre. First violins were constantly up in the stratosphere with furrowed brows, with brass having the time of their life. Being nine songs in total, the first started very bewitchingly with unaccompanied voice and the whole series was a mixture of different singing styles: operatic, Gregorian and almost talking at points. She coped well with this and my only criticism would be an infrequent lack of diction and enunciation. Coming back to the orchestra and the piece, the third song was more likeable and calmer with double basses doing an excellent job of supporting those above. With the 4th song, we caught a glimpse of how passionate the soloist was for the piece, she was truly “dedans” (within the piece), finishing with a slightly guttural but effective tone. Song number 5 included, to my delight, some moments of cello and soloist together where tone was astonishingly clear on both parts. Number 7 commenced with a strong feeling of soloist versus orchestra, definitely one which would have woken up any sleeping audience members. During the final song, I realized that there was someone right at the back of the 1st violins who was giving more than the leader. Although I couldn’t criticize the leader in any other way, I would like to watch someone who looks like he/she is giving everything for the music. The piece ended a little unsatisfactorily for me – a descending abrupt ending but for this complaint I shall have to ask Messiaen himself.
It was during the interval that I realized that the conductor, Tabachnik, reminded me exactly of a character on British television in a show called “Father Ted”. Up to that point, he had been a good conductor, nothing overwhelming to say about him but I found this helped me see into his character more.
So, the second half was comprised solely by Schumann’s 4th Symphony in D Minor. The 1st movement was melodic and smooth, but nothing special in my eyes. Unfortunately I did notice a slip-up in the bowing amongst the 1st violins which I would not expect in such an orchestra. However, the strings in general moved along nicely, to this very Beethoven-esque starter which can make any string player want to grab a seat up on stage. In the second movement, I took particular note of the cellos, whose intermittent solos were delightful. Although the third movement started as if it sounded like Johnny Depp would enter at any moment and steal a bag of your finest gold, it was well played and got me out of my slumberous mood, again drawing me to play with them. Some rather “cute” moments followed, including Tabachnik swaying along with the orchestra, enforcing the idea that he was with the orchestra and not against them. The horns did a sterling job throughout the 4th movement, giving a thoroughly round sound and the conductor and leader, although seeming to have a fairly cold relationship, exchanged a few glances at important moments of the final pages of music which for me gave a more human feel to this concert.
On the whole, the concert was enjoyable, with a 1st half definitely worth seeing. I would argue that Schumann wasn’t the most revolutionary orchestrator or composer even in his day but the piece was enjoyable despite.

TEATRO LA FENICE PRESENTA...
 

Michel Tabachnik

dirige Debussy, Messiaen e Schumann

Orchestra del Teatro la Fenice

Teatro Malibran, sabato 04 aprile marzo