Modernism and medievalism rmenian
composer Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978) composed in Russia
in the same dangerous atmosphere as Shostakovich (see my earlier post): unlike Shostakovich, his lively
music had relatively little trouble with State censorship. In the UK he is
mostly known for two excerpts from his ballet scores - the 'Sabre Dance' from
Gayaneh and the Adagio from Spartacus. Yesterday evening at the
Royal Festival Hall Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the Philharmonia Orchestra conducted
by Rafel Frübeck de Burgos performed his Piano Concert - composed in 1936
and his first major work. It is full of dissonant chord clusters: but it wears
its modernism on its sleeve: underneath it is a good old-fashioned overblown
romantic concerto, requiring its pianist to play triple-forte for much of the
time. Thibaudet sailed through the considerable technical difficulties with
ease: the work is an enjoyable show-off
piece.The second half of the concert was Carl Orff's secular cantata, drawn from a collection of racy Latin poems discovered in 1803 - having been lying around since the Middle Ages - given the title Carmina Burana. The poems describe the pleasures of drink the delights and pangs of love, and the tricks of fortune: O fortuna velut luna statu variabilis semper crescis ut decresis (O luck/like the moon/changeable in state/you are always waxing/or waning). There is nothing medieval about the music - not even the mock-medievalism of Warlock, or Walton in Henry V mode - which is lively and dynamic with strong rhythms; but still manages to draw the listener into the hard-living, hard-drinking and capricious world of the Middle Ages. The work requires a large orchestra - including ten percussionists and two pianos - with a large chorus plus a boys' choir, and three soloists. It was performed with tremendous energy: a special mention for the baritone William Dazeley for his performance as the drunken abbot: Ego sum abbas Cuceniensis et consilium meum est cum bibilis (I am the Abbott of Cockaigne, and my deliberation is among drinkers). de Burgos did tend to rush several of the items, in particular the hilarious list of all the people who drink in the tavern (Bibit hera, bibit herus/ bibit miles, bibit clerus) and Tempus es iocundum; though he did (as many conductor's don't) give full weight to the dramatic return of the opening number, O fortuna, at the end. Posted: Wed - November 21, 2007 at 10:12 AM by Roger Wilmut |
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Total entries in this category: Published On: Mar 11, 2016 05:00 PM |
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