I have been a shameles Simon
Rattle fangirl since late 1980s when he was the poster boy of English
classical music, doing amazing work with the Birmingham Philharmonic City of Birmingham Symphony Orchastra. So when I got a chance to go to see and hear him with Berlin Philharmonic, I jumped at it. This was the first time I was in the new
Musiikkitalo, and I have to say that while I still think that it is
architecturally downright ugly on outside, and increidbly boring from
the inside, the hall itself is excellent. The vinyard form works both
visually, and more importantly acustically – at least with orchestral
music and with an orchestra that knows how to use hall to best of
its advantage.
The concert was divided in
three parts. The Orchestra opened with Ligeti's Atmosphéres. It is
an uncomfortable piece, abandoning as it does conventional harmonies
for sound clusters that sound even more random and structureless than
your average serial composition. Rattle and Berlin Philharmonic segue straight from
the long last fade of Atmosphéres to Wagner's ethereally
romantic Lohengrin overture. It is an inspired idea, riffing off from
Jurowski doing the same with Athmosphéres and The Rite of
Spring. On structural level there is an interesting juxtaposition
between the somehow motionless soundscape of Ligeti and Wagner's
Grail theme moving through the orchestra from one group of
instruments to another. On emotional level, there is a sense of
relief and recognition when we move from something alien and
disturbing (in a good sense) to familiar and intensly emotional. One
could even draw thematic parallels as Lohengrin overture
depicts something transcendental: the revelation of the Grail, and
Atmosphéres is most famous as the soundtrack for Dave
Bowman's equally transcendental meeting with the Monolith in 2001
Space Odyssey. Both pieces defenitely gained someting extra with
the coupling.
The second part of the
concert consisted of two pieces written for Ballet Russes in early
20th century. Debussy's Jeux was coreographed by Nijinsky, and
Ravel's Daphnis et Chloé by Fokine. The lush impressionism of
the works really brought out the colour and depth in the sound of the
orchestra. Jeux has never been one of my favourites, I don't
seem to be able to divorce the music from the idea of dance, and keep
missing the movement to go with the sound when I am just listening it
meandering onwards with very little structure. Though the Debussy was
indeed expertly played, I enjoyed Ravel's second
orchestral suite from Daphnis et Chloé with its evocations of nature and
changes from almost hollywoody romanticism to primal rythms much
more. The colours exploded from the orchestra, every note was
exquisitely articulated, and everything was in perfect balance.
After the interval we got
nearer the orchestras comfort zone with Schumann's 3 rd symphony. It
was the first time I heard the piece, and really think it needs few more listenings to open properly. I loved the flow and the rich
sound conjured by the orchestra. I have no idea if Schumann really
meant to depict Rhein in this symphony nicknamed Rheinish, but for me
the music did bring up images of a mighty river.
All in all, the night was
challenging and sublime. It is so very nice when ones idols live up
to their reputation. And though recording is never the same, you will be able to listen the concert in Yle Arena for the next thirty days. Have at it.
Eating Muffins 