Tippett and Beethoven

Glyndebourne, Lewes - 29/10/24

 Glyndebourne Sinfonia (conductor – Adam Hickox) and Chorus (director – Aidan Oliver). Soloists: Beth Taylor (mezzo-soprano), Nardus Williams (soprano), Kieran Carrel (tenor), Michael Mofidian (bass-baritone).  

 While Beethoven remained something of a musical lode star for composer Michael Tippett throughout his life (even as he explored evermore daring territories), it was Handel who was “the master of us all” according to the towering figure of grand German romanticism. All of these musical giants were honoured or referenced in Glyndebourne’s Autumn concert programme last night, featuring commanding performances of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4 and Tippett’s heartrending oratorio, ‘A Child of Our Time’. The latter utilises Baroque, Renaissance and other vernaculars and textures within a mid-twentieth century vocabulary.

 Although it retains its own distinctive place among the nine works that make up Beethoven’s acclaimed cycle of symphonies, the Fourth has tended to be overshadowed by The Eroica and the Fifth, which precede and succeed it respectively. Reception also appears to have been mixed after it premiered publicly in Vienna in 1808. Weber was virtually dismissive, while the younger Berlioz proclaimed it a work of unalloyed genius. The reality is somewhere in-between. The varied themes introduced early on in this spritely piece pace their way across its four movements in different shapes, sizes and developments, even if Weber struggled to register this at first.

 The Sinfonia articulated Beethoven’s sinewy musical palette in the Fourth with bounce and clarity. This was also a wise programming choice: a lighter opening work which comported well with the stylistic dexterity of what was to follow, but certainly not one lacking in its own character. Both Beethoven and Tippett were thoroughly immersed in the demands of their respective eras, while also transcending them in scope, daring and imagination.

 Given the horrors of inhumanity unfolding in Gaza, Lebanon, Ukraine, Congo and elsewhere at the moment, and the underlying rawness of the protest against injustice and war in ‘A Child of Our Time’,  it might have felt a little incongruous to be listening to Michael Tippett’s passionate oratorio in the sumptuous, bucolic surroundings of Glyndebourne. There was, indeed, something slightly otherworldly about the technically highly polished performance we witnessed.

 With purposefully economic resources at their disposal, certainly compared to larger scale productions over the years, conductor Adam Hickox and choral director Aidan Oliver marshalled orchestra, chorus and soloists together admirably. From tenth row centre in the stalls, the detail and precision was remarkable, highlighting the composer’s intricate use of contrapuntal harmony, the integration of diverse elements from an English music tradition spanning five centuries, and the powerful use of African-American Spirituals in place of the popular hymnody Bach employed for the chorales in his two celebrated Passions.

 ‘A Child of Our Time’, which was also influenced in its tripartite shaping by Handel’s ‘Messiah’, has remained Tippett’s best-known and most performed work over the years, along with earlier staples like the Fantasia Concertante on a Theme of Corelli and the Concerto for String Orchestra. Despite the income stream it generated, this came to be occasionally frustrating for the composer in later life, as his more advanced ventures, like the creatively eccentric and oratorio-adjacent ‘The Mask of Time’, were pronounced “obscure” and “difficult” by unsympathetic critics.

 In fact, there is much more connection between ‘early Tippett’ and his angular middle and later large scale works than is usually recognised. In universalising the events leading up to the hideous pogrom against Jewish people in Kristallnacht, particularly the story of the young refugee boy whose shooting of a Nazi officer was used as an excuse for their violently escalated persecution, Tippett combines lyricism with jarring thematic and harmonic contrasts. The Spirituals combine popular and studied elements without losing either, paying homage to the blues tradition which he recognised as central to his own tortured century.

 Though it is designated a secular oratorio, Tippett’s self-penned libretto (available in this performance through surtitles) is full of rebarbative theological themes. It defies easy pigeon-holing, embodying a range of convictions that span quiet scepticism, enduring faith in spiritual recovery from trauma, and an almost naïve and touchingly hopeful humanism.

 If there is any criticism to be made of the strong account given by the Glyndebourne Sinfonia and Chorus, it is that moments of darkness, emotional drama and dynamic shift were almost smoothed out by the proficiency and textural evenness of their delivery. Nonetheless, this was high quality performance, with wonderful balance achieved between the different components of the musical forces involved, including the fine soloists. The compact, clearly-voiced style also highlighted Tippett’s use shade and light in both orchestration and instrumentation.

 Meanwhile, mezzo soprano Beth Taylor was a marvel. Tenor Kieran Carrel and bass-baritone Michael Mofidian (who performed the oratorio in the Edinburgh International Festival in 2023, under the baton of the late Sir Andrew Davis, to whom this performance was dedicated) were steady and authoritative. They were complemented by accomplished soprano Nardus Williams, a former Jerwood Young Artist at Glyndebourne. In keeping with the venue’s overarching theatrical-musical tradition, subtle use of lighting changes and the back projection of selected images accompanied the performance, with the soloists emerging one-by-one into the tempered spotlight as their musical parts arose.

 Adam Hickox, whose father, Richard Hickox, also directed notable Beethoven, Baroque and Tippett recordings and performances, was appointed Principal Conductor of the Glyndebourne Sinfonia in December 2023. In this concert he demonstrated a confident portrayal of both symphonic and operatic-style works. His reputation will surely only grow. The second performance of these standout works, both appearing at Glyndebourne for the first time as part of the company’s 90th anniversary Autumn season, will be supplemented on 1 November by a choral masterclass for singers wishing to explore ‘A Child of Our Time’ further.  

Photo credit:  © Glyndebourne Productions Limited and Richard Hubert Smith.