27th August 2016
Royal Albert Hall, London, United Kingdom
MOZART "The Magic Flute" Overture
HANS ABRAHAMSEN let me tell you
TCHAIKOVSKY Symphony No. 4
Barbara Hannigan (soprano)
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla (conductor)
What has taken the British so long to bring Hans Abrahamsen's Grawemeyer Award-winning song cycle "let me tell you" to this country? For the majority of the performance, I found myself unable to give an objective assessment as I normally do because I voluntarily lost myself in the beauty of the product. The music is direct, emotional and pristinely scored, with moments calling for expertly judged incorporation of microtones. The work is immersive, mesmerising and breathtaking. Barbara Hannigan's voice is naturally seductive, incredibly versatile and stunningly captivating. It was worth the wait and standing through the heat. Echoing last night, we started with another 1791 Mozart work that was the Overture to "The Magic Flute". The main work was Tchaikovsky 4. The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was on excellent form, but I had issues with their incoming Music Director, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla. Exciting performer, but shallow. The energy of the Mozart was excellent, but that was all it had. It lacked depth, drama and melodic sense, and the sound was patchy. The Tchaikovsky was quite tedious, especially II. There is only so much contrived emotions and over-articulation one can take before the music becomes too deliberately mannered and manicured. The crystalline sound of the pizzicato in III was amazing, but perhaps inappropriately light for all the Slavic sentiments. Not entirely sure why they put on this programme. I am sure she would be much better suited for more contemporary repertoire.
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