Brilliant
Russian
. music
A GLITTERING programme of Russian music
. was
the
Guildford
' Philharmonic’s first con-
-
* tribution to the Guildford
. International Music Fest. ival, and it was appropriate
- that its principal conduc-
~ tor,
En Shao, should take
~ the baton on this occasion.
©
Rachmaninov’s choral
symphony The Bells is
essentially that, a choral
~ symphony. The orchestration is dazzling, and even
|
in the uncertain acoustic
- of Guildford Cathedral
every detail in the score
came over clearly. This was
| evident from the outset:
' The scintillating, neatly
pointed
interjections
| describing the silver sleigh
- bells.
.
There was something
- intensely sensual about the
© movement describing the
. wedding, and the scherzo,
. depicting the alarm bells,
| was suitably terrifying as it
. rose and fell in mood, dri| ven on by violent, insistent
- rhythms. Perhaps the most
intense music is reserved
. for the finale, depicting the
| funeral bells sounding on’
and on at a doleful pace,
' relieved by a most beauti--
. ful cor anglais solo.
.
The chorus sang skilful| ly and accurately with a
' wonderful sense of dra! matic contrast, even if
many of their words were
lost
in
the
acoustic.
Soprano Elena Voznesen-
.
skaya gave a beautiful but
|
not too heavy tone to the
wedding movement, tenor
Rowland Sidwell sang
enthusiastically in the
opening movement, and
bass Anatoli Safiulin’s ren- dering of the finale caught
the despairing mood of
- Poe’s poem admirably.
|
Rimsky-Korsakov’s
- suite from The Golden
- Cockerel is just as colourfully orchestrated, and if
- anything, more original
| harmonically than The
' Bells. En Shao and the
philharmonic made the
- most of their opportunities: The mysterious orien-
. tal themes, the mocking |
trumpet call of the cocker' el, and the sudden off- key,
' denouement, all came over
' brilliantly.
It was a refreshing
change to hear a performance of' Tchaikovsky's
1812 Overture which was
not drowned out by special
effects. In fact, this performance was striking in having a significant part for
chorus, who sang the
orthodex hymn at the
beginning and the Russian
anthem at the end.
»
The concert was spon-
sored by Borax Eyrope.
Shelagh Godwin