Music by some of France’s most colourful storytellers –
Bizet, Faure and Berlioz - was brought to life by a Russian conductor and
soloist in the WA Symphony Orchestra’s most recent concert.
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| conductor Vladimir Verbitsky |
On Friday night conductor laureate Vladimir Verbitsky delivered a version of
Bizet’s L’Arlesienne Suite No 1 coloured by bristling string playing
interspersed with delicate saxophone and harp moments. In the Carillon movement
Verbitsky’s unerring sense of line gave elegant shape to operatic melodies
strung over plodding accompaniment.
One of Faure’s more harmonically progressive pieces, Suite
from Pelleas et Melisande, had a bleak edge to it. The sweetness of the
Sicilienne was a welcome respite between the pensive picture of Melisande at
the spinning wheel and the melancholic Funeral March.
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| violist Maxim Rysanov |
An English interlude in the form of two movements from
Vaughan Williams’ Suite for Viola and Small Orchestra introduced soloist Maxim Rysanov. The richness of his viola was immediately apparent: at the low end of
the register a deep weeping sound, a mellow middle section and a honeyed top
end.
Berlioz’s theatrical Harold in Italy continued the montage of
French pictures. This ‘symphony with a principal viola part’ gives most of the
theatrics to the orchestra, but Rysanov’s bold sound earned him prominence and
he played with precision. Berlioz’s storytelling was masterful. The pilgrim’s
hymn with answering horn calls faded to a magical hush and Verbitsky drove the
Brigand’s Orgy with his typical fist-clenching fervour. Yet despite the rousing
climaxes and consistently excellent playing across the night there was
something missing. Perhaps it was the lack of meaty repertoire; the excess of
pictorial works built into a vague incoherent collage. Or perhaps it was the
lack of emotional connection; the predominantly clinical approach by Verbitsky
and Rysanov ultimately lacked both Russian fire and French melodrama.
This review copyright The West Australian 2014.
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