BY TARA WERNER
The inspiration behind Alban Berg's 1935 violin concerto adds extra poignancy to this sensitive and beautifully crafted work. Dedicated to Manon, the much-loved young daughter of the composer's friends Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius, the title spoke volumes: To the Memory of an Angel.
The soft opening triads for violin, harp and woodwind seem to shimmer and become incand-escent. And later there is a section portraying Manon dancing, then tragically, her jarring calls for help before her death.
Berg's romantic style, with its more than a passing nod to Mahler and Wagner, is nonetheless equally firmly in the Schoenberg camp. Rarely performed, this highly descriptive concerto has been sadly neglected, considering that it can easily be placed against the greats in the violin repertoire.
Soloist Karin Adam gave the work the credit it was due last Thursday night, with a bold yet graceful performance. Bringing out the music's essential lyricism, she showed an intuitive and deeply felt understanding of the score.
Surprisingly less graceful was the orchestra's performance beforehand of Johann Strauss' On the Beautiful Blue Danube. This was the result of conductor Vladimir Verbitsky taking rubato a little too far, with the tempo lurching uncomfortably throughout.
And given the equal familiarity to the musicians of Mozart's Symphony No 40, it was a bit of a shock to hear how badly the horns entered in the opening allegro molto.
Luckily the rest of the symphony was more settled, and while the ever-present spectre of inaccurate intonation hovered over the woodwind, it was soon dispelled.
Apart from the Berg, the piece de resistance turned out to be Richard Strauss' Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks. Orchestrated for large orchestra, the music nonetheless has difficult solo passages for the horn, here played with agility by Nicola Averill.
With all its twists and turns the music makes equal demands of all sections of the orchestra, on this occasion played with necessary bravado.
<i>Performance</i>: Auckland Philharmonia, Aotea Centre
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.