August 2003 - Nr. 8
MUSICAL SPECTACLES CONTINUE
Festival of the Sound
Week One in Review
by Ken Stephen
As the Festival moved on into its first full week of concerts, it became more obvious that the new Charles W. Stockey Centre’s Performance Hall is now one of the Festival’s biggest assets.
The ensemble from the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival which appeared on Wednesday at noon proved that the hall could equally well handle their impassioned fortissimo in the rare Piano Quartet Movement in A Minor by Mahler, and their gossamer-light tone in the elfin scherzo of the equally rare Piano Quartet in B-flat Major by Saint-Saens. The precision of playing by these musicians, even in rapid passagework, was very noteworthy. Also, it was a delight to hear two rarities from little- known corners of the repertoire. This was a treasurable concert indeed.
Sometimes you hear people say that Bach’s music is like a sublime sewing machine, perfectly functional yet boring. Wednesday night’s concert would change their minds in a hurry. Between the plaintive oboe solo of James Mason and the sad longing in Monica Whicher’s soprano voice, the opening aria of Cantata No. 32, Liebster Jesu (Beloved Jesus) was one of the emotional highlights of the Festival so far. That longing was redeemed in the joyful duet of Whicher and baritone Russell Braun before the moving chorale that closed the work.
In the same concert, Guy Few made a strong impression with a rare solo appearance on the corno da caccia, which he described as being "like the love child of a French horn and a flugelhorn", before cradling the instrument in his arms like a baby! Here again, rapid passagework displayed the virtuoso quality that has made this multiple virtuoso a Festival favourite for many years now.
At noon on Thursday, lovers of classical song got a rare treat: a complete performance of the entire 46-song Italianisches Liederbuch (Italian Songbook) by Hugo Wolf. These songs tell, by allusion and mood, the entire tale of a tempestuous Italian love affair. Monica Whicher and Russell Braun captured every nuance of mood and meaning in a performance where even the singers’ entrances and exits meant something. Whether the songs were passionate, doleful, angry, spiteful, coquettish, or catty, Whicher and Braun communicated every shade of emotion to their audience. This was lieder singing raised to breathtaking heights, with the aid of Carolyn Maule’s finely judged and deftly executed accompaniments.
An equally breathtaking event was Thursday evening’s concert. An instrumental ensemble under the leadership of noted conductor Peter McCoppin played the original chamber version of Wagner’s Siegfried-Idyll, a lovely tone poem. The main work of the evening was the chamber arrangement (by Arnold Schoenberg) of Mahler’s late song-symphony, Das Lied von der Erde (The Song of the Earth). The arrangement is masterly, keeping all the shrill woodwind tone typical of Mahler’s orchestration, a generous selection of percussion, a horn part, and a string quintet. Two pianos fill in the remaining brass, string, and harp parts, and (in the finale) the all-important celesta.
Tenor Kevin McMillan was at his best in the playful third and fifth songs, bringing a real sense of humour tinged with sadness, which is essential in this work. In the climax of the first song, he had more difficulty penetrating the heavy woodwind and piano texture.
As so often in Mahler, the best writing is given to the alto voice, although for Das Lied von der Erde it needs to be a very wide-ranging mezzo-soprano for best effect. Jean Stilwell’s powerful voice was suitably fined down for the quiet moments, yet clearly audible in even the loudest passages. In the end, though, what the singer most needs is a sense of the depth of the music, of the inwardness of this most personal of Mahler’s works. Nowhere is this more true than in the long and taxing finale, and here Stilwell must be compared favourably with the greatest interpreters of this music, not least in her darkly-coloured singing immediately after the long orchestral interlude.
That interlude in the full orchestral score is dominated by multiple horns and builds to a huge and menacing climax. It was very much to the credit of conductor, players, and arranger, that while the scale of tone might have been reduced, the menace was amply brought out, especially in the repeated strokes of the gong as the music built up to its gripping peak.
That one moment could stand as a symbol for everything that’s happening at the Festival of the Sound this season: starting 24 years ago with considerably less than the fullest equipment needed, the Festival has built up, with its fantastic musicians, dedicated leadership, and brand-new home, to a very satisfying climax indeed.
