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It was to be the stuff of dreams. Neeme
Jarvi was sadly not well enough to conduct his
Gothenburg forces at the Albert Hall, so
responsibility fell to the young Venezuelan prodigy
Gustavo Dudamel, making his Proms debut at the
age of twenty four in front of an expectant
audience.
Unfortunately nobody told the engineers. The
familiar warning to switch off mobile phones had a
sting in its tail, in the form of two notes of
sonorous feedback. Once there, it just wouldn't go
away!
"The Tubin has been replaced by Stockhausen!"
chorused the Prommers, referring also to the
unfortunate casualty of the evening, Tubin's
Toccata. "Stockhausen isn't that nice!" came
the response from the gallery. The two notes
continued, the Gothenburgers patiently waiting on the
platform. Prom director Nicholas Kenyon appeared on
three occasions to thank us for our patience. Finally
the problem was resolved, and the crazy notion of
feedback at a classical music concert was put to
bed.
Dudamel bounded on again, and began with
Tchaikovsky's Francesca da Rimini. This is one
of the composer's most personal utterances, and
Dudamel threw himself into the challenge, wringing out
the notes from the string players, coaxing a
wonderfully controlled clarinet solo in the slower
music. The tempest swirled and the conductor, who
apparently had just five rehearsals to prepare, beamed
appreciatively at the results. It was hard not to
share his enthusiasm.
Sibelius' fifth symphony, as always, offered huge
challenge. Having recorded it recently under Jarvi for
Deutsche Grammophon, the orchestra had it completely
under their fingertips, and indeed rarely glanced at
the conductor as he once again strained every sinew.
It will be interesting to see on record if they adopt
the slowing down of the tempo before Sibelius'
masterstroke, the doubling of the beat to lead the
opening movement into the scherzo without a break.
Here it became a touch hurried, but the tremolo
strings were always evocative, in the finale too where
they revealed an uncanny similarity to the opening
work. Dudamel showed all his credentials as he brought
the work to its mighty conclusion with the six huge
chords. He fully deserved his ovation.
There was an ovation, too, for the radiant Anne
Sofie von Otter, who held us captive for Mahler's
Ruckert-Lieder. Succeeding where so many
singers have failed, she effortlessly projected her
voice over the arena, helped of course by Mahler's
deft instrumentation but also by Dudamel's sensitive
accompaniment. The fourth song, which translates as
I Am Lost To The World, was pure delight, the
hushed strings in awe of the singer, who intoned "Ich
bin gestorben dem Weltgetummel, und ruh' in einem
stillen Gebiet!" ("I am dead to the world's tumult,
and repose in a tranquil domain"). After forty-five
minutes of rather less tranquil feedback, this was
pure bliss.
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