9th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom
MARK SIMPSON Israfel
DUTILLEUX Tout un monde lointain ...
ELGAR Symphony No. 1
Johannes Moser (cello)
BBC Philharmonic
Juanjo Mena (conductor)
If you have seen any Dutilleux score, you will know how meticulous he is with the articulation of every single note. The same motif can sound in 20 different ways within a same movement, and that is definitely true in his "Piano Sonata". That is one of his many ways to paint the rich colours in his music. Tonight, Johannes Moser played his seminal all-but-in-name cello concerto "Tout un monde lointain ..." What Moser produced was a very clear and concise realisation of the instructions, but it sounded like a very shallow interpretation of this masterpiece - perhaps I am way too biased towards the legendary Rostropovich recording. In particular, the slow movements of "Regards" and "Miroirs" did not sing and I got the feeling he was too obsessed with achieving the fantastic palettes of sound without doing much with them. The scherzo "Houles" was quite thrilling though. The second half was a rather unorthodox performance of Elgar 1 by the BBC Philharmonic under Juanjo Mena. It was a sunny no-nonsense performance with refreshing transparency and virtually no sensationalising rubatos. The British critics would certainly find it "un-Elgarian", but it was not invalid. This is optimistic absolute music to the highest order. The only major criticism I have is that the harps in the finale, which marked a major turning point in the whole work, was way too subdued, otherwise the whole performance was very enjoyable. The opening neo-Romantic "Israfel" by Mark Simpson was forgettable. The orchestra gave a charming tribute to the late Peter Maxwell Davies before the Elgar. I also bumped into my old piano teacher, the great Warren Mailley-Smith, who has just completed an epic 13-recital series on all the solo piano works by Chopin. I suspect the next time I see him at the RAH, he will be on stage.
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