Agenda, Thursday 22 May 2008

The orchestra is led by a French conductor - doubtless the determining influence in selecting the evening's programme - and by a Scottish violinist of Italian origin.  On the podium Stéphane Denève is the typical modern orchestral conductor, with sweeping gestures - bombastic, almost - and extremely mobile, with a mane of well-combed hair that moves with him, and a vision of extrovert music reaching out to engage with the public.  Certainly his audience was with him.  The violinist Benedetti also struck a dramatic figure from the moment she took up position on the platform, with her stance, her attractive looks and the ample volume of sound that she succeeded in drawing from her violin.  She began the Sibelius Concerto for violin and orchestra in D minor delicately but powerfully, her slim sleeveless arm like a laser beam, capable of cutting through steel with that precise, brilliant delicacy of touch.

Weaving these elements together the visitors from Scotland offered us a programme of four works of solo and orchestral virtuosity.  Myself I might have preferred one of the major symphonies that allow the string section a more prominent role.

Nicola Benedetti treats the Sibelius concerto as a high volume enterprise.  She sets herself the task of drawing sound from her violin, a 1712 Stradivarius, - and frankly she achieves that goal.  In spite of the fact that the orchestral accompaniment for this work is particularly solid, particularly so under the batonwork of this conductor¹, the solo instrumentalist was never buried beneath it.  On the contrary, in those central passages where the tension appears to fall away, the violinist succeeded, even with her movements, in creating a full, rounded sound standing out from the whole.  A key moment in her performance was when she kept the audience holding its breath at the end of the slow movement, carrying it forward, certainly with great economy and almost to the edge of monotony. Brilliant in her virtuosity, though slightly less sharp-edged at the end, she provided proof of the quality of the violinists out there.  The encore was the obligatory tribute to Bach.  Stupendous.

Stéphane Denève offered a fairly restrained Debussy, one which as we have already mentioned excelled in those passages that call for mystery, sudden diminuendo and a spectacular explosion of metallic brilliance.  In other words everything that impressionism stands for.  The same was true of Ravel's La Valse, where once again the string section - now whirling along with the movement of the dance - ebbed and flowed in this "deconstructed" waltz with the brilliant elegance of someone clinging fast to faded glories.  For his encore the French conductor offered his customary piece from Bizet, a splendid L'Arlésienne.  And, with the public firmly in his pocket, a Scottish dance with hand-clapped accompaniment in a New Year's Concert style.  To general enthusiasm.

Diario de Navarra, Friday 23 May 2008

Concert forming part of the Auditorium's January-July programme.  Auditorium three-quarters full.  Two bows taken by the conductor after the initial overture, ovation for the Sibelius, three bows and an encore by the soloist - the Giga from the "Partita No. 2 in D minor" BWV1004 by J.S. Bach; enthusiastic ovations for the second half, with the Prelude (March of the Kings) from the first suite of "L'Arlésienne" by Bizet, and "Eightsome Reel", a Scottish traditional dance, as encore.  Benedetti plays the "Earl Spencer" Stradivarius, courtesy of Jonathan Moulds.

Nicola Benedetti, a twenty-one year old Scot of Italian origin was Young Musician of the Year in 2004 and has also earned the Young Scot title.  Her recording of the Mendelssohn concerto was recently released by Deutsche Gramophon.  The Stradivarius she plays - named for the family title of the unfortunate Diana Princess of Wales - is missing from many catalogues of the work of the illustrious violin-maker of Cremona and yesterday its quality of sound was unremarkable.  It is an interesting instrument, doubtless a recreation in essence, and showing off its qualities more clearly in the Bach encore than in the Sibelius concerto.  In its relationship with the orchestra the violin will always find itself on the losing side, for reasons that require no further explanation.  The fact is that the soloist - and we take technique for granted in anyone who takes on works of this nature - displayed a greater lyric tension and force in the central movement, adagio di molto, than in the other two, where she was often overshadowed by the orchestra.  The RSNO played with great energy throughout the evening although in saying so in reference to any event at the Baluarte we need to bear in mind first and foremost the intolerable challenge offered by the hall's recalcitrantly ethereal  acoustics.  It may be said that orchestras do not make enough effort to adapt themselves to the hall but that is asking a lot of them.  The first question has to be whether the musicians can hear themselves well enough on the platform.

The Mendelssohn poem, devoid of any descriptive effort, was robust rather than graceful, basalt - like Fingal's Cave, the marine geological formation that so impressed the composer - rather than Mendelssohn.

Dénève is French, as was apparent in the second half.  There was nothing intangible about his Debussy and it is unlikely that Falla, confronted with yesterday's rendering - raw, powerful and at times lacking in balance - would have repeated the comment he made in 1920 after the composer's death, that "our imagination is aroused by this intensely expressive piece of music."  Perhaps Debussy does not make for easy listening - Falla's remarks were met with general incomprehension - but nor is he easy to interpret because there is nothing instrinsically "Spanish" about him, appearances notwithstanding.

"La Valse" is an unambiguously choreographic poem offering no hint of a tribute to the Viennese waltz despite Ravel's original reference to his work as being a homage to Johann Strauss.   As a homage it proved  a tragic one, because by the time the composer had finished the piece the Austro-Hungarian Empire had collapsed and amidst the shreds of melody and deconstructed rhythm Ravel, like a musical Joseph Roth, presents us with the drama of the new world.  Denève offered a powerful version of the poem without any concessions to sentimentality.  A vortex.  Plausible.

Cultura Mirarte, Wednesday 21 May 2008

PAMPLONA  This evening around 8.00 pm the Baluarte Auditorium will be hosting the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in a concert conducted by the orchestra's music director Stéphane Denève and featuring the violinist Nicola Benedetti.  The programme will include the concert overture The Hebrides by Felix Mendelssohn, Images and Ibéria by Claude Debussy and La Valse, a symphonic poem by Maurice Ravel.  Without doubt, though, the centrepiece of the programme is the violin concerto composed by Jean Sibelius in the summer of 1903 with Nicola Benedetti, BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004, as soloist.  The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, founded in 1891, has led a very active life during its more than 100 years of existence, including subscription programmes in Scotland's major cities, European tours and recordings.  It has performed under the batons of conductors of the stature of Walter Susskind, Sir Alexander Gibson, Bryden Thomson, Neeme Järvi, Walter Weller and Alexander Lazarev.  Since 2005 the orchestra has been directed by Stéphane Denève, who continues to conduct operas and symphonic concertos.  The violinist Nicola Benedetti, Scottish-born but from a family with Italian origins, completed her studies at the Yehudi Menuhin School at the end of 2002 and is a pupil of Maciej Rakowski.  She was named BBC Young Musician of the Year in 2004 and has been honoured with the Young Scot award and twice nominated for the Classical Brits.

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