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When Sibelius' first symphony received its Proms premiere in 1903 under
Sir Henry Wood, Debussy was well underway on his own symphonic masterpiece
La Mer.
Just over a hundred years on and a chance to consider their
influence on the Horn Concerto of Colin Matthews, itself receiving a Proms
premiere. The composer is sixty this year, youthfully so if the energy with
which he bounded on stage is anything to go by, and his concerto made tough
demands on not just one but five horn players.
Perfectly suited to the Albert Hall, the work started with all five
offstage, soloist to the left and the four 'concertante' to the right with
conductor Mark Elder. During the piece the concertante moved around
the outskirts of the hall, twisting arena heads on the way but providing
significant signposts for the music's development. Meanwhile soloist
Richard Watkins moved centre stage to take the lead. Watkins, the
work's dedicatee, was fully expressive, his phrase control impeccable and
his natural tuning flawless. Elder made sure his Hallé forces secured
wonderfully transparent textures in the accompaniment, at times betraying
Sibelius in figuration and Debussy in orchestration.
La Mer opened the Prom and found Elder focussing on definition
and clarity, with beautifully hushed percussion, lightly flitting strings
and pointed brass lines. If not fully scaling the heights it was expertly
realised, with the wind really blowing round the collar in the Dialogue
of Wind and Sea. If only it had, but the stifling auditorium was still
able to enjoy the playful interplay of Jeux de vagues, strings and
wind exchanging motifs.
On this occasion Sibelius emerged as the star of the show, thanks to a
lean account of the first symphony, Elder unleashing its power. Helped by a
sublime clarinet solo from Lynsey Marsh he was able to up the
tension from the start, enough to require plenty of brow mopping at the
movement's end.
The symphony's close links to Tchaikovsky were emphasised in the
gorgeous string textures of the second movement, which was warmly romantic,
while the scherzo and finale were urgent and dynamic, with impressive
contributions from wind, brass and timpani. On the latter, Tom
Greenleaves's sticks were almost reaching head height in the mighty
closing section, the music then subsiding to a hushed and deeply felt
close. Conductor and orchestra blew out their cheeks in unison - they had
been on quite a journey.
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