RSNO: Sibelius Five
Usher Hall - 13/05/22
Young Norwegian conductor, Tabita Berglund, poses in front of a wild waterfall in the poster for tonight’s concert. There’s a Nordic element in much of tonight’s programme, featuring Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony. Thea Musgrave’s 1990 tribute to Sibelius, commemorating the 125th anniversary of his birth, is the first work on the programme, and Danish cellist, Torleif Thedeen plays Dvorak’s cello concerto – not a Nordic work, but possibly inspired by a waterfall!
Musgrave’s ‘Song of the Enchanter’, based on an episode in Finnish epic, the ‘Kalevala’, is part of the Scotch Snaps series, through which the RSNO has celebrated music by established and new Scottish composers over the last two years. It’s a short work beginning with shimmering lower strings under a soaring violin, soon replaced by woodwind bird calls. Agitated drumming takes over before the high string melody is restored.
Already Berglund has impressed with her control of the orchestra. She is a small slim figure, but grows in stature as she stands to conduct, using powerful clear direction. Large orchestral forces are required for all of tonight’s works and there is never any doubt that she is completely in charge. Cellist Torlief Thedeen has an international career of over thirty years. A former cellist herself, Berglund works well with him in Dvorak’s cello concerto, keeping up the momentum throughout the work’s 40-minute length.
Dvorak wrote the concerto in the States, allegedly inspired by a visit to the Niagara Falls, though the musical influences seem to derive from his homeland rather than the new world. In the first movement, the orchestra sets out the two main themes, firstly, in a dotted rhythm, a rather edgy tune which starts in the lower strings and is developed by the full orchestra. This is followed by a radiant melody on the horns, all before the soloist enters. Thedeen is a reassuring presence, an unshowy player who seems to value clarity in his performance, as he picks up and elaborates both of these themes. His instrument, once used by Rostropovich, has a resonant, sometimes gruff, lower register, but he makes good use of its rich tone in the higher melodies too. This is one of Dvorak’s loveliest works, and because many favourite sections involve delicate interplay between the cello and woodwind, it’s easy to forget that it’s scored for a large brass section and timpani, who provide resonance and challenge throughout the work.
The slow second movement, written by Dvorak after hearing of the serious illness of his sister-in-law, sets higher woodwind against the lower notes of the solo cello in the main theme. The cello section of the orchestra provides quiet accompaniment to the dialogue between the cello and the winds. A louder bracing theme with resounding brass breaks through, but the quiet solemn certainty of the main theme continues to the end. The third movement begins as a quick march by full orchestra and cello, but this brisk tempo largely gives way to the development of quieter lyrical passages for cello, accompanied at various times by solo flute, the first violin, and very quiet trombone. The unusual ending of the piece, chosen by Dvorak after the death of his sister-in-law, links into near-silence on the cello with only a brief final orchestral flourish.
The second half is devoted to Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony. Written in the early part of World War I, it was partly inspired by Sibelius sighting sixteen swans in flight, which he said gave him the theme of his last movement. Sibelius’s music and personal life was very much tied to his love of his country, and desire for its liberation. Another artist with aspirations for his country, W B Yeats, was also inspired by seeing Wild Swans at Coole about the same time - each precise about the number of swans with Yeats claiming “nine and fifty”. He and Sibelius, both born in 1865, had reached middle age without their countries gaining independence, and there are political yearnings in both works, as well as a celebration of the natural world.
Berglund conducts a thoughtful and spirited account of the work. It’s complicated and ever-changing, with clear statements of musical themes often being overtaken by layers of orchestration. This may be what is meant by organic development in his music, but I have to confess that often with Sibelius, I enjoy what I’m hearing in the music, but have difficulty working out the connections. Andrew Mellor makes a helpful point, in his programme notes, “Characteristically the music is built from the bottom up.” This approach worked for me, and I found that the development of the music could often be seen as well as heard, starting on the right in the double basses and perhaps the brass, working across the stage.
After the turbulence of the first movement, the second movement’s allegretto is delicate with staccato woodwinds and violin pizzicato alternating with sweeping string melodies. Sibelius reduced the original four movement symphony to three movements. The last movement features agitated strings alternating with an optimistic legato theme on horns and trumpets – representing Sibelius’s swans in flight. The finale is a final flourish of the swans’ theme, as they take flight, celebrated by six short blasts from the orchestra. There’s well-deserved applause for the orchestra and for Berglund. It’s good to see the enthusiastic appreciation from the large number of young people in the audience. Both the RSNO and the SCO are to be commended for their low-price ticket schemes for younger audiences.
