The RSNO: Eroica
The Usher Hall
Tonight saw the latest in the RSNO Beethoven concert series, a modest five concert programme, compared with some orchestras which are covering all the master’s greatest works in this his 250th anniversary year. The unique nature of tonight's concert is the presence of Sir Roger Norrington, at 85 years old not only the oldest conductor on the British music scene, but also the most distinguished in the performance of historical music. He wants us to experience what it was like to listen to music in Beethoven's time and he gives us an entertaining talk before the Beethoven to tell us how to behave - "applaud if you feel like it, even between movements, like they did in Vienna" he said, and the big Usher Hall audience responds, applauding warmly. Mind you, we might not welcome some of the other practices from Vienna at the time of Beethoven’s premier of the Eroica in 1805, when according to Anthony Bateman's very good programme notes the symphony received only scattered applause, the critics found the performance 'interminable, overloaded, incomprehensible and much too noisy', and someone in the gallery was heard to shout 'I'll give another kreuzer if the thing will only stop'! Fortunately the Usher Hall audience are much better behaved and better disposed towards the music, and warmly applaud Roger Norrington's account of the Eroica.
The Eroica was Beethoven's third symphony and it was written in 1804 at a time of revolutionary change around the world, the American Revolution in 1776, the French Revolution in 1789 -, the marked although uneven across Europe drift to the cities in response to industrialisation, and the challenges to the hegemony of the Austro-Hungarian Empire - rather important in Vienna where Beethoven was based after his early move from Bonn. (Incidentally Donald Macleod's Composer of the Week on Radio 3 is giving a fascinating account of Beethoven's life and music every second week.) Beethoven embraced this revolutionary movement and he tried to encompass it in his music, even if it did baffle bourgeois audiences in Vienna at the time! The Eroica was originally named Bonaparte, because he admired the republican leader of revolutionary France, but when Bonaparte declared himself Emperor, Beethoven was disgusted and renamed the Symphony Eroica, a more generic term for the struggle for freedom which Beethoven supported. He was battling his deafness and contemplating suicide, but decided to dedicate his life to making revolutionary music, beginning with the Eroica, music which reflected the passion for change, for truth, for beauty and for love. His music reflected that intensity, contrasting with the more gentle melodic styles of his predecessors like Haydn and Mozart although they of course had foreshadowed this in some of their work, like Haydn's Sturm and Drang period, and Mozart's Magic Flute.
Roger Norrington makes a revolutionary change in the RSNO for the Eroica. He has the wind and the brass standing, behind the string players who he has rearranged, with the double bass players at the centre and the violins divided across the stage. Meanwhile he sits in his conductor’s swivel chair, swinging round to give directions, all without a score in front of him, at times languid, at times energetic, but always in charge. Of course no doubt he had schooled the orchestra in rehearsal how he wanted the work performed and at what speed. As he tells us, timing was important to Beethoven, and he rejects some conductors’ notorious attempts to slow down Beethoven. He follows the composer's markings, which are particularly fast. It is fascinating to watch the RSNO players respond to this, in particular the standing wind and brass who are literally swaying with the music, and all the musicians respond with a great performance of this revolutionary work.
On its own I would have given the Beethoven a five star rating, but preceding it in the first half was a rather more low key Debussy concert, more quiet reflections than heroic struggle. Why was this music chosen? Maybe to contrast with the Beethoven, but in the end I found it rather underwhelming and hence I have given the concert only a four star rating overall. Firstly we have Debussy's Prelude a L'apres-midi d'un faune, his evocation of a dreamy afternoon in the life of a faun. It is very pretty and Roger Norrington conducts it in his most languid manner, sitting in his seat and occasionally waving his arms without his baton. Following this we have a rather more dynamic account of Debussy's Fantasies for Piano and Orchestra, played by award winning pianist Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, who doesn't do languid but prefers florid in style! Sadly the music doesn't offer him too many chances to be florid, again tending more to introspection but with a more colourful ending.This is contrasted with his encore, the Etude de Concert in c minor Op 13 by French composer Gabriel Pierne, a brilliant technicolor tour de force, which allows our pianist to show his florid tendencies in full.
So this was a concert of two halves in more than one way, and yes it was a contrast but I'm not convinced it worked, and I'm not convinced that it brought out Beethoven's revolutionary impact. Perhaps an all Beethoven programme would have worked better. After all he wrote enough revolutionary music to power the RSNO's five concert programme, but then I'm just a critic!
