Hallé. Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham. June 30 2023. 4****. William Ruff
Nottingham
Hallé
Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham
June 30 2023
4****
Review: William Ruff
@ReviewsGate
The Hallé brings another Nottingham Classics season to an electrifying conclusion
Outside it was midsummer in Nottingham but inside the Royal Concert Hall on Friday night the audience travelled from Spain to France and then to ancient Russia. And for half the evening seasons went into reverse and we were back in springtime. The Hallé was in town not only to round off another season of Nottingham Classics but also to mark conductor Delyana Lazarova’s final concert with the orchestra.
Opening the concert was Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol, one of the composer’s most popular works, not surprising considering its brilliance, virtuosity and all-or-nothing style. Much of it consists of exciting orchestral pyrotechnics and high-wire acrobatics: highly entertaining to listen to but also a potentially hazardous minefield for conductor and players. Delyana Lazarova steered the Hallé through each of the Capriccio’s five short movements with enormous panache, making transparent music which is so densely packed that detail can be obscured in less skilful hands.
The soloist in Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez was the remarkable young Scottish guitarist, Sean Shibe, winner of a string of top awards over the past few years and one of the most versatile and adventurous of musicians. Rodrigo’s concerto is THE guitar concerto and, as such, risks being treated like musical wallpaper. That’s a pity because it was ahead of its time when composed in 1939, amalgamating so many diverse influences. The 18th century, cutting-edge 20th century, nationalism, the music of North Africa: they all find their way into the work to produce a distinctive fusion of musical ideas. Sean Shibe’s was a vibrant, animated performance, probing beneath the surface of those luscious tunes, breathing new life into a work he may feel he knows too well. However, his subtly nuanced, richly colourful playing (even though amplified) wouldn’t have carried to every part of the Hall.
Beginning the concert’s second half was D’Un Matin de Printemps by Lili Boulanger, a French composer who died at the tragically young age of 25 in 1918. Her musical picture of a spring morning lasts less than 5 minutes but manages to be a masterly exercise in light, shade and orchestral colour. There is lots of bright wind playing at the energetic start but something altogether darker soon emerges and Boulanger continues this seamless journey between these two extremes throughout. There was some wonderfully dreamlike playing from the Hallé, with suitably eerie effects on solo violin and celesta until the initial energy returned with a series of brilliant flourishes and a final spectacular glissando on the harp.
The final work of the season was Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, 110 years old but still able to shock and thrill. It’s ballet music – but unlike anything that had ever been written before. We become observers of pagan rites in old Russia as a tribe gathers to sacrifice a young girl to the gods of spring. It’s intensely visceral music, full of harsh dissonances and instruments being pushed to their limits. Rhythmically irresistible, its frequent changes of time signature make it notoriously challenging to coordinate. Delyana Lazarova, however, seemed to be in her vibrant element here. One example: the massing of woodwind in the Introduction was accomplished with an exciting sense of drama, each instrument becoming a sharply drawn character in the ritual. The whole thing was electrifying, all sections of the Hallé stretched to create both the beauty of this landmark score and its terrifying power.
Hallé
Delyana Lazarova, conductor
Sean Shibe, guitar