Stream: RSNO Beethoven’s Violin Concerto
This digital concert streamed live from the RSNO Studio in Glasgow was an all-Beethoven programme featuring his youthful First Symphony and his beautiful Violin Concerto, conducted by Thomas Søndergård, with Midori as violin soloist.
The orchestra was arranged, socially distanced, throughout the large room, allowing us, as viewers, a much more intriguing view of the individual players than one would normally get. It was in the now familiar European seating, with first violins on the left of the conductor as we looked at him from behind, and the seconds on the right. The violas sat behind the seconds and the cellos and double basses behind the firsts, with woodwind and brass arranged in a semi-circle behind all the strings. The period timpani were to the right towards the back, with the period trumpets nearby. It was interesting to see that the rest of the instruments were, I think, modern, but that the engine, as it were, was powered by valveless trumpets and animal skin drums.
I would be interested to know from cellists whether they resent their position deep in the midst of the orchestra, as opposed to their former position to the right and front, close to the conductor. Do they prefer to be in the middle, or at the front?
One more word on the look of the broadcast. All of the orchestra players were dressed in neutral black, but the conductor was kitted out in full Edwardian evening dress, with a shiny white waistcoat and brightly polished shoes. It struck me as anachronistic and I wondered why. Midori appeared in a blue sparkly dress later in the concert, so perhaps it was decided that Mr Søndergård should be similarly traditional. I have written elsewhere (in ˋA Singer’s Life’) about my belief that classical music needs to get away from the Edwardian era, so I would be interested to know what others think about the issue of concert dress. As a performer myself, I don’t mind dressing up in tails, but I must say that I prefer the less formal attire which is more the norm in the Early Music Scene.
Beethoven’s first symphony owed a lot to his illustrious predecessors, Haydn and Mozart, and was given its premiere on 2nd April 1800 in Vienna. Dedicated to his early patron, Baron Gottfried van Swieten, it was scored for a typical orchestra of the period, and for the most part, I couldn’t discern a great deal of what was to be his mature style in the work. The majestic opening leads to a charming first movement, featuring, particularly, flute and oboe. Indeed the woodwind was a very important feature of the whole symphony, and the RSNO section played beautifully. It was lovely to see the individual players in close up, although the camera person did linger perhaps over much on the attractive first flute!
The second movement could have been by Haydn or Mozart, while the sprightly third movement was well judged with good volume contrasts. The final movement, opening with a serene adagio, develops into a full bodied ‘allegro molto e vivace’, which zooms along at a fair lick, complete with trumpets and drums (and a first glimpse of the second flute!). The conductor and orchestra looked to be having a jolly good time, which was refreshing to see (another advantage of the cameras), and the symphony began to feel really Beethovian in its sforzandi and unexpected turns.
After a brief pause to change a few places (second flute became the only flute) and for a few interviews with players and Midori (who is Artist in Residence for the Digital Season), we were ready for the second piece in the concert, Beethoven’s Violin Concerto.
Midori explained in the interview before the performance that this was the composer’s only violin concerto and was an endless source of wonderment for her. Some of the players spoke about her spontaneous interpretation of the solo part which gave them the thrill of seeming to improvise with her, making them hugely responsive to her playing, and this knowledge was very helpful in our appreciation of the concerto.
It had been written for Beethoven’s friend, the violinist Franz Clement, but the story goes that, at its premiere in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna in December 1806, the solo part arrived so late that the violinist had to sight read some of the concerto on the night. This made it rather less than successful, and the concerto lay largely forgotten and unplayed until, long after the composer’s death, it was revived by the 12 year old prodigy Joseph Joachim, with the Orchestra of the London Philharmonic Society, conducted by Felix Mendelssohn in 1844. It instantly was revealed as a masterpiece and has become one of the staple works of the solo violin repertoire. Midori has been playing it for years and played here, from memory, with a warmth and passion that was marvellous to behold. As our readers will know, I am a singer and have no real idea about string instrument technique, but, even to me, it was apparent that the slight figure of Midori was fully in command of her interpretation, and appeared to work beautifully in harmony with Thomas Søndergård and the RSNO.
The orchestra opened the work with a beautiful, magical sheen of sound, and the flowing melody of the first movement was taken up seamlessly by the solo violin when she entered. This melody always feels like a sort of Ur-Melody to me, the sort of tune we all know almost from birth. Its development over the 20 or so minutes of the first movement was glorious, the soloist, in the absence of an audience, and facing a large wall, turned neatly towards the conductor, the orchestra and her microphone. According to my researches, Midori plays on a 1734 Guarneri violin, and it sounded very sweet indeed. Her extended cadenza towards the end of the movement was breathtaking, and it was fascinating to watch the RSNO associate leader, directly behind Midori in the camera shots, observing and listening with rapt attention. There was just enough time for a fine bassoon solo at the end of the movement before we had a slight pause to prepare us for the deeply moving slow movement, marked Larghetto (slow but flowing) which is one of the wonders of music.
Beethoven became a master of slow music, and that is one of the traits that I love most in his work. One of his most sublime creations is the Benedictus in his ‘Missa Solemnis’ which is an extended slow movement for solo violin, solo vocal quartet, chorus and orchestra. Do have a look for it on disc or download.
Midori’s playing was gorgeous, and her rapport with the conductor was wonderful to see. She played with a sense of line that can best be described by the Italian word cantabile. an outpouring of sensuous singing sound, but so softly as to make the listener concentrate even more than usual. It occurred to me that perhaps, the opportunity of playing in a studio, and not an enormous concert hall, allowed the performers to play more quietly than they would otherwise do. There was no need to project into a vast space, and the delicacy of the sound was quite magical.
The movement evolves directly into the famous Rondo finale, one of Beethoven’s great cries of joy which was a vehicle for some seriously virtuosic playing from Midori. It’s wonderful, foot-tapping music and carried us to the triumphant ending, which provoked spontaneous applause form orchestra and conductor. Having taken part myself in many great recordings, it is slightly strange to see what is essentially a studio recording and a public performance at the same time, but, at least for me, it worked very well, and I wish the RSNO well for the rest of this digital season, which will continue through until February 2021.
Our readers can purchase access to these 10 concerts over the next few weeks for £10 per concert or £90 for the series of 10 performances (£3 concession price for students, young people under 26, unemployed and people with disabilities), all available from the RSNO website. You might also consider the idea of a Household Ticket for each concert (£20) which would compensate for the fact that many households would normally purchase one, two or more tickets for actual performances, thus making £10 quite minimal for a family. Remember that this is the livelihood of these musicians, and, in the absence of live music and much support from government, they are struggling to survive in this awful time.
