RSNO: ‘An American in Paris’ and ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’
Usher Hall - 02/03/23
Gemma New, conductor | Jess Gillam, saxophone | Art by James Mayhew
After a break of a month, it was a great pleasure to return to the Usher Hall last night for the continuation of the RSNO Season 2022/23. This was an evening of unexpected connections and inspired programming, all directed by the phenomenal young New Zealand conductor, Gemma New. A first half of Ligeti, Gershwin, Glazunov and Milhaud, a truly surprising combination, led to a second half of Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’, orchestrated by Ravel and illustrated before our very eyes by the artist, James Mayhew. It wasn’t what I would call a mainstream programme, but it was very well attended by a splendidly youthful audience and was wildly applauded throughout. All the compositions were premiered in the 20th century, although the original Mussorgsky piece for piano was written in 1874, but unheard for many years until discovered by Rimsky-Korsakov after the composer’s death in 1881.
The concert kicked off with György Ligeti’s Prelude and Intermezzo to his outrageous opera, ’Le Grand Macabre’, a crazy fanfare for 12 tuned car horns, played by three percussionists, each equipped with two for the hands and two for the feet. It was strangely exciting, and led into George Gershwin’s orchestral tone poem, ‘An American in Paris’, immortalised by Gene Kelly in the 1951 film of the same name, which also features the sound of car horns parp-parping their way through the streets of Paris. It was marvellous to hear that superb score as pure music, without the visuals of Kelly’s film, and to identify the various sections of the orchestra which combine to thrill us throughout this delightful evocation of an American’s reaction to his visit to Paris in 1924. First heard in New York in 1928, ‘An American in Paris’ is a wonderful mixture of fast rhythms and smoky bar music, catching the feeling of the new jazz scene in both New York and Paris. Gemma New threw herself full tilt into the piece, dancing and coaxing the players from the podium, with an infectious bravura coupled with a clear and precise beat. As Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and recipient of the 2021 Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award, she is obviously one to watch, and I hope the RSNO invite her back soon, as she drew instant cheers and bravos for the Gershwin piece. A special mention is due to the Principal Trumpet, Christopher Hart, for his beautiful trumpet solo, complete with bluesy swoops. I must watch the film again!
The second half of the first part of the concert featured the astonishing saxophone playing of the precocious young sax player, Jess Gillam, the youngest ever finalist of the BBC Young Musician Award and already a Classical Brit Award winner. As well as her busy concert career, she also presents a weekly show on BBC Radio 3, ‘This Classical Life’, and is a keen promoter of her home county of Cumbria, with her own concert series bringing fine music to Ulverston.
Dressed in sparkly green trousers, she brought great pizzazz to Alexander Glazunov’s Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Strings, first heard in Sweden in 1934. I knew Glazunov’s music exclusively through a couple of songs I sang some years ago but was intrigued to discover that he was a great friend of Rimsky-Korsakov and was one of Dmitry Shostakovich’s early mentors. Largely conservative in his musical tastes, he was persuaded, at the age of 70, the year before he died, to write a saxophone concerto for the German Sax virtuoso, Sigurd Rascher, demonstrating how the instrument could compete with the more familiar brass and woodwind instruments in a classical context. It is a fine piece, showing off both the virtuosity of the saxophone, as well as its warm romantic side, and it was played superbly by Jess Gillam, who also coped heroically with a member of the audience taking ill when playing her solo cadenza. I can’t say that the concerto thrilled me particularly, but it was interesting to hear, and was followed by a rather more dramatic piece, also for solo saxophone, ‘Scaramouche’ by the French composer, Darius Milhaud, premiered in Paris in 1937. This was a reworking of various earlier pieces, based on Commedia dell’Arte characters, and proved a winning finale to the first half, especially the last of the three movements, ‘Brazileira, Mouvement du Samba’, recalling Milhaud’s earlier incarnation as a secretary at the French Embassy in Brazil from 1917-19. Jess Gillam was splendid in this sparkling showpiece, as was the RSNO.
After the interval, the concert progressed from very fine to unforgettable. This was for two reasons: firstly the superb performance of Mussorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’, the piano work inspired by a posthumous exhibition of paintings by Mussorgsky’s friend, the artist Viktor Hartmann, in 1874, which was lost, then discovered after Mussorgsky’s death by Rimsky-Korsakov, and finally orchestrated brilliantly by Maurice Ravel in 1922. The RSNO was on top form, galvanised by the sensational conducting of Gemma New, with stand-out solos from many of the principals, including Jonathan Pippen on euphonium and John Whitener on tuba, and lovely playing by last night’s leader, Lena Zeliszewska. The second reason for my theoretical five stars for the concert was the brilliant concept of having an artist, James Mayhew, producing instant works of art in front of our eyes, as he drew and painted each movement of the piece, illustrating a picture from the original exhibition. Mr Mayhew worked at an easel situated where a solo instrumentalist stands beside the conductor, and had obviously practised intensively, as each picture was finished in perfect conjunction with the music. The pictures were enlarged on a great screen in front of the organ, and we were able to watch in utter fascination and admiration as Mr Mayhew created wonderful images with a few simple brushstrokes. Some older readers will remember Tony Hart, the wonderful children’s presenter of such programmes as ‘Vision On’ (for hearing-impaired viewers) and ‘Take Hart’, who would create pictures instantly on television to the delight of children everywhere. This concept was very similar to what we saw last night, and I have to say I thought it was absolutely fabulous. The essence of each movement’s picture was conjured out of a blank piece of either black or white paper, and perfectly timed to the music. Stunning! Clearly, this idea only works with music telling a visual story, but it is nonetheless innovatory and very successful. Mr Mayhew has collaborated with several orchestras, on works like ‘Sheherazade’, ‘Peter and the Wolf’ and ‘The Planets’, and indeed he is currently touring Scotland with the RSNO, presenting his latest book, ‘Once upon a Tune’, entertaining thousands of children across the country.
