djc said:
The Beethoven Missa Solemnis was frankly tedious, with no dynamic range, no impact from the chorus and some fairly average playing from the band.
Serves you right for getting one of those posh seat-thingies
I have to say though that I agree with every word of that. I was wondering how much effect the hall had, as I was behind the fountain for the first time this year and the sound was very remote and muddy - but friends in my more normal position really quite liked it though. The disappointment was the more pronounced in comparison with than wonderful Verdi Requiem from the BBC Phil - even though I thought the tenor had the wrong kind of voice for that part. Looking forward to what the Concertgebouw will do - they've come over rather lacking in commitment the last few times I've seen them, but I doubt Jansons will put up with that.
I'm afraid I also found the Tonhalle disappointing (although nowhere near as much). While the playing was probably a bit more secure, I didn't feel they had anything like the spark they had in their last vist - which was what made that so special. Maybe my expectations were just too high after their last visit. I felt the Beethoven was OK, although there were some definite ensemble problems between the wind and the strings (who do play wonderfully together, though, and the front desks still play more like a chamber group than any other orchestra I've seen). I do actually like the modern-period approach, certainly in earlier Beethoven. I thought the piano sound a bit thick though - not sure whether that was Ax or the instrument setup - the opening sounded more appropriate to Grieg or Rachmaninov than Beethoven.
Their Flying Dutchman Overture though was a joke - I have never heard anyone make this piece sound boring before
. So staid and not an ounce of trouble or tension in it.
The piece I really went for was Also Sprach Zarathustra. And again I wasn't impressed. Others were, who liked the methodical and structural interpretation Zinman gave - and he really brought out the C/B conflict throughout. Doesn't do it for me though - in this piece above all I want Karajan soup
. The "Of Joys and Passions" was fairly low in either quality, and if the "Dance Song" danced it did so only on crutches - and had absolutely none of the "Dionysiac ecstacy" mentioned in the programme notes. So, for me, this was not a patch on the BBC Scottish performance under Brabbins about 4 years ago. As one of the reviewers has mentioned - a very "Swiss" performance
(every note right and proper in its place, but very little passion).
Titian, are you sure their encore was Elgar? We got Walton's "Crown Imperial" - and they played it worderfully - with all the swagger and panache that was missing from the Strauss. (They did do Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance No 4 two years ago)Wagner's Lohengrin Act III Prelude was also on the stands for a 2nd encore - which fortunately we didn't get, as that's one of the few pieces by Wagner I truly detest
.
So this week's highlight for me so far has been the good old BBC Phil who are really a very good orchestra. In the past I've always been more impressed by the "MacBeeb" (BBC Scottish), who have also done some super concerts this year, but at the moment I think the Phil are edging it. I have noticed though that both these orchestras have quite an astringent string tone (certainly in comparison to the much mellower Tonhalle). Maybe that's one reason why they do the impact thing better than our visitors so far.
(BTW - I have the Tonhalle Beethoven 7 & 8, very fresh fast and fun but not the feverish excitement of Kleiber(7) or Karajan(8), and after hearing their 3 on the radio earlier this year that's on the shopping list too).
