RSNO: Schønwandt Conducts ‘Scheherazade’
Usher Hall - 12/11/21
Regular readers of my Blogs for the EMR will know that I am something of a fan of the German composer, Richard Strauss (1864-1949), so it was with a great sense of excitement that I settled down to listen to the beginning of this splendid concert in the Usher Hall, which featured the young Strauss’ tone poem, ‘Tod und Verklärung’ (Death and Transfiguration). First performed in Eisenach in June 1890, conducted by the composer, it is a representation in music of the death of an artist, whose earthly battles are subsumed after death into a beauty which transcends all pain and strife. It is programme music which goes well beyond any programme, and as a piece of sheer imagination must rank as one of the most extraordinary early works of any composer. Indeed, when Strauss himself was dying, 60 years after this work, he apparently announced that his younger self had got pretty close to reality!
This performance by the RSNO, conducted by the Dane, Michael Schønwandt, was a revelation. From the earliest bars, with mysterious rumblings and gentle timpani heart beats, through to the serenity of the close, conductor and orchestra were in total harmony, and led us through the life, death and transfiguration of Strauss’ artist. It can sometimes feel overblown and self-indulgent, this young man’s vision of the death throes of the protagonist, and the memories of his life, leading him to a clear view of eternal bliss, but the scrupulous attention to detail of the conductor and the ethereal brilliance of the orchestra, took us, the lucky audience, to a place of refinement and beauty, rarely glimpsed. The RSNO has undoubtedly become a very fine orchestra indeed, and its great guru, Sir Alexander Gibson, with whom I often sang in the 1980s, would surely be delighted with how magnificent it has become.
The second piece in the programme was Maurice Ravel’s late piano concerto for the Left Hand, commissioned by Paul Wittgenstein, who gave its first performance in Vienna in 1932, conducted by Robert Heger. The Wittgensteins were a wealthy Austrian family, with many connections. Paul’s career as a concert pianist was curtailed by the amputation of his right arm after being wounded in the First World War. Despite the disability, his wealth, and his determination, allowed him to commission several great composers to create works for a one-armed pianist, and, although he had great fights with Ravel over this piece, it has remained a much loved part of the repertoire. It was an extraordinary family, as Paul’s brother was the famous philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein. Their father, Karl, made his fortune in the iron and steel industry, similar to our Andrew Carnegie. Kirill Gerstein, born in Russia and now an American citizen based in Berlin, was the excellent soloist in this concerto, which combines a certain French passion with clear shades of jazz, the new musical style that was conquering the world by the 1930s. It was amazing how many colours Gerstein could conjure out of the piano, despite only using one hand. The only problem arose when the orchestra was in full flow, and some of the piano part was lost in the general sound. At first, I thought the conductor was pushing the orchestra too hard, but on reflection I reckon that any balance problems came from Ravel, and indirectly from Wittgenstein. Playing with only one hand, the pianist has no chance to find the full tonal richness of a concert grand piano. It was superbly played, nonetheless. As an encore before the interval, Mr Gerstein announced that, in deference to the previous day being Remembrance Day, to the opening of the Usher Hall in 1914 at the start of WWI, and to the fact that the preceding concerto was conceived as an anti-war piece, he would play Debussy’s ‘Berceuse Héroïque’, a lullaby written for King Albert’s Book, published by the Daily Telegraph in 1914 to show solidarity with the plucky Belgians after the German invasion. I recently discovered a copy of this book in my house, and what a fascinating work it is. I loved this moving, unshowy encore played by Mr Gerstein, a touch of class!
After the interval, Michael Schønwandt and the RSNO pulled out all the stops and gave us a truly magnificent performance of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘Scheherazade’. This is one of those famous pieces which get better with every hearing, a cornucopia of exotic orientalism and orchestral splendour, first performed in St Petersburg in 1888. Rimsky was a great teacher, both of his contemporaries and some of the future greats, like Stravinsky and Prokofiev, and his manipulation of orchestral colours and textures was unparalleled. He wrote many operas (I have sung in three of them), mostly built around Russian fairy tales and exotic stories, but ‘Scheherazade’ is purely instrumental, lasting about 40 minutes and illustrating some of the stories from the famous ‘1001 Nights’. The basic story is deeply unsavoury. A cruel sultan, Shahryar of Samarkand, finding his wife in flagrante with a slave, decides to eliminate further possible infidelities, by taking a virgin to bed every night, and executing them in the morning. The beautiful Scheherazade avoids this fate by telling the sultan a story after each night of passion but leaving a denouement open in the morning. The sultan is so fascinated by the tale that he delays the execution until the next day and, by this ruse, Scheherazade prolongs her life for 1001 nights, after which the sultan realises that he has found the woman and marries her. The premise is ghastly, but its repulsiveness is mitigated by the stories themselves, and by the old double standards of different cultures having a different morality.
Anyway, the stories are brilliant, are known and loved throughout the world, and Rimsky-Korsakov wrote a work of sublime beauty and enduring popularity. I wasn’t familiar with Michael Schønwandt before this concert, but I see from his CV that he has had a most illustrious career, and he certainly had a huge success here. You could see how much the RSNO enjoyed working with him, and his expressive yet muscular conducting gave shape and purpose to a work that is one of an orchestra’s most virtuosic undertakings. Conducting from memory it was apparent that he was thoroughly in control from beginning to end, and he received a great ovation at the end, and rightly so. ‘Scheherazade’ is a piece that tests any orchestra, with some wonderfully exciting big moments, and also some hugely complex solos for instrumentalists, none greater than the solo violin which Rimsky used to portray the beautiful Scheherazade herself. Here the orchestra’s Leader, Maya Iwabuchi, was nothing short of sensational. Glorious tone, shimmering sensuality, teasing wistfulness, astonishing technical ability, all combined to produce a masterclass of top violin playing. The RSNO is indeed fortunate to have such a brilliant concert master. I could single out every instrumental principal for praise, such is now the depth of the orchestra’s playing, but if I must pick Player of the Match, my award goes jointly to Katherine Bryan (flute) and Timothy Orpen (clarinet), with special mentions to both the bassoon and contra bassoon. Finally, a word for Rainer Gibbons who was guest principal oboe. It can’t be easy to guest in a piece with such beautiful but exposed solo oboe sections, but I thought he was absolutely excellent, with a beautiful tone, and rock solid technique.
This was as good a concert, both in programming and performance, as I have heard in a long time, and we were privileged to be there, in our socially distanced bubbles. I hope that the RSNO will invite Mr Schønwandt back as soon as possible.
A final caveat. I assume that this is a government problem (or possible an Usher Hall thing), but I know of several single friends who were unable to attend because they were not permitted to buy single tickets. This is outrageous, and I hope the powers that be will find a way not to discriminate against single audience members. With at least half the seats unsold for Covid reasons, it is bonkers to lose ticket sales with a policy that makes no sense at all!
