Norman Stinchcombe, Midlands Classical Music Making<\/p>\n\n
For most British classical enthusiasts the music of Estonia is synonymous with two names. The first is that of veteran Estonian conductor Neeme J\u00e4rvi who in his 400-strong discography always championed the music of his homeland. That included a sublimely beautiful piece by Arvo P\u00e4rt \u2013 the second Estonian name familiar to us \u2013 his \u2018Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten\u2019. This concert opened with a profoundly inward performance of that work performed by the Estonian National Symphony Orchestra of which J\u00e4rvi was the chief conductor for a decade until 2020. The orchestra was making its first visit to Birmingham conducted by J\u00e4rvi\u2019s successor, his countryman Olari Elts. Starting and ending with the tolling of a bell, a religious call to attention, the orchestra\u2019s strings soared gradually skywards before descending into a peaceful conclusion.<\/p>\n\n
I remembered a rather rushed and perfunctory Schubert fifth from Elts\u2019 with the CBSO but that was fifteen years ago and there was no sign of that young-man-in-a-hurry in this splendid performance of Dvo\u0159\u00e1k\u2019s Symphony No 7. The opening D minor Allegro was suitably majestic with the Estonian string players digging deep and the woodwind section illuminating Dvo\u0159\u00e1k\u2019s many lyrical Bohemian melodies. The Scherzo was outstanding with Elts emphasizing the changes of colour and pace \u2013 one moment the minor key clouds threatening a storm, the next flute and clarinet heralding bursts of sunshine in the G major trio. For Dvo\u0159\u00e1k\u2019s finale to be fully effective the D minor tension must be held until that last minute shift into a triumphant D major \u2013 like the sudden twist at the climax of a Hollywood thriller \u2013 and it certainly was here, deserving the enthusiastic applause it received.<\/p>\n\n
It\u2019s been nearly forty years since Barry Douglas wowed the Russians and carried off the Tchaikovsky Competition\u2019s Gold Medal \u2013 tempus fugit. The young keyboard lion is now a grey-maned elder statesman but he can still roar with best of them as shown in a doughty performance of Rachmaninoff\u2019s Piano Concerto No 3. Douglas\u2019s strengths, a trenchant from-the-shoulder attack and a command of Rachmaninoff\u2019s seamless switches from powerful declamation to inward poetry, were both in evidence. The long first movement cadenza is always a challenge to which Douglas rose, becoming a one-man orchestra for its duration. Elts and the Estonians gave powerful support \u2013 who can resist the composer\u2019s trademark emphatic ending? Douglas\u2019s encore of Prokofiev\u2019s \u2018Dance of the Knights\u2019 from his ballet \u2018Romeo and Juliet\u2019 was very pleasing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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