São Paulo Symphony Orchestra and Roman Simovic
Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 19/8/24
São Paulo Symphony Orchestra, Thierry Fischer (conductor), Roman Simovic (violin)
The night of 19th August brought the São Paulo Symphony Orchestra’s European Tour to the Usher Hall, under the baton of their Swiss music director Thierry Fischer, in a programme of goodies that concluded with Richard Strauss’ epic Alpine Symphony. The (theoretically) all-Latin first half opened with M. Camargo Guarnieri’s (the M stands for Mozart, apparently) ‘Suite Vila Rica’, followed by two equally colourful works for solo violin and orchestra, Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera’s Violin Concerto and German/American film composer Franz Waxman’s ‘Carmen Fantasie’ (and not that by Spaniard Pablo de Sarasate, as had been advertised). The soloist was to have been Hilary Hahn but, as she is still convalescing from a double pinched nerve injury, we had instead the fabulous Roman Simovic, leader of the LSO, whose performance of two Ysaÿe sonatas before Messian’s ‘Quartet for the End of Time’ wowed unforgettably at The Hub in last year’s Festival.
Thierry Fischer addressed the audience to announce that we would hear 5 of the 10 numbers from the Guarnieri suite (rather than just the 2 indicated on the programme). The 1957 ‘Suite Vila Rica’ is a selection of cues from the film music for ‘Rebelião em Vila Rica’. We heard the Maestoso introduction (quite like Copland in epic mood), Scerzando (a cute dance amid urban bustle), Valsa (a romantic waltz with lovely solos for oboe, violin, flute and clarinet), Saudoso (Brazilian dance rhythms evoking nostalgia and homesickness apparently, and very like Christopher Gunning’s much later TV theme for ‘Agatha Christie’s Poirot’) and Baião (another Latin dance style from north-east Brazil – made me think of a steam train). The playing was stylish, idiomatic and engaging. The orchestra played its heart out for Thierry Fischer, boding well for the Strauss.
Ginastera’s 1963 Violin Concerto is a far cry from his earlier style. There is no sign of Argentinian folk melodies. It is uncompromisingly atonal in what he called his “neo-expressionist” style. In 4 movements, the soloist wanders through a surreal nightmarish dreamscape. The first movement, ‘Cadenza e Studi’, starts with an extended solo like the beginning of Ravel’s ‘Tzigane’ (but more austere) followed by a series of phenomenally virtuosic battles with the huge orchestra, with challenges to negotiate like fiendish double-stopping on a variety of intervals, rapid unsequenced arpeggiation, harmonics and quarter-tones. The second movement, ‘Adagio per 22 solisti’, has a lot of fast-moving content for an ‘adagio’ and is more of an exploration of timbral colour, with some spooky scoring for harp and celeste and no let-up in the challenges for the soloist. The third movement marked ‘Scherzo pianissimo – sempre volante, misterioso e appena sensibile’ is as spooky and surreal as what precedes it, though less embattled. The finale, ‘Perpetuum mobile – Agitato e alluciante’, has a lot of fast triple-time runs and a suggestion of demonic playfulness, with a phenomenally virtuosic conclusion. There is much to marvel at in a performance of this concerto: the ingenuity of the construction, the virtuosity of the performance, the consummate artistry displayed in the partnership of soloist, conductor and orchestra, and the attention-grabbing kaleidoscopic variety of the musical elements displayed live. But I cannot love it and won’t be seeking out a second hearing.
The Waxman is a totally different kettle of fish and, like the Guarnieri, comes from the world of film music, being part of a score written for the 1946 melodrama ‘Humoresque’. Consisting of a virtuoso reworking of many of the best tunes from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’, it is a delight from start to finish. I consider Bizet to have been one of the greatest melodists, in the same mould as Schubert and Dvořák. Waxman clearly agreed and Roman Simovic set about convincing us of the same, aided by the orchestra and conductor in a gleeful partnership. It was fabulous. I was already a fan; now I am a worshipper.
Strauss’ ‘Eine Alpensinfonie’ is a large-scale symphonic tone poem for huge orchestra, describing a day spent hiking in the mountains, with graphic depictions of a misty sunrise, the joy of setting out with companions, majestic vistas, getting lost and caught in a thunderstorm, finding the way to safety and the feelings of peace, contentment and achievement of reaching a comfortable destination by nightfall. In late summer 1983, I went on a cycling holiday in the Alps with a companion, in a round trip starting and ending in Zurich, taking in Klosters, Davos, the Fluela Pass, Graubunden, The Tyrol, Salzburg and back through Bavaria and a ferry on the Bodensee. The Alpine Symphony never fails to trigger those memories, especially the apocalyptic thunderstorm we experienced in Imst in the Tyrol. The hand of Wagner on Richard Strauss’ shoulder is never a surprise, but many of the glorious climaxes are just as much Brucknerian and Mahlerian. Did the Brazilian orchestra realise the magic of Strauss’ epic? Yes, they did, and in full measure. It was thoroughly splendid. They are a world class orchestra and Thierry Fischer as Music Director is a perfect match. Full marks from me.
Photo credit: Maxime Ragni