RSNO: Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony

Usher Hall - 02/06/23

Jörg Widmann, conductor | Christa Schönfeldinger, glass harmonica

The penultimate concert of the RSNO’s 2022/23 Season was excellent but slightly odd. Mozart’s music formed the main part of the programme, and therein lay the oddity. One rarely hears Mozart played by symphony orchestras these days, since his music has become the dominion of the period instrument ensembles and the chamber orchestras. In the same way as I sometimes question the SCO playing romantic era ‘big’ symphonic works or oratorios, I was initially wary of the RSNO taking on Mozart’s last two symphonies and wondered what they could bring to these famous pieces that the smaller groups had missed.

I think the answer lies in the choice of conductor for this concert, the German composer/clarinettist/conductor, Jörg Widmann. He showed many of his skills tonight, conducting the Mozart and his own work, ‘Armonica’, premiered in 2007. His Mozart was sensational, revealing aspects of these well-known works that I hadn’t heard before, and fully justifying the decision to let the (much reduced) RSNO have a go at different music. I was less convinced by his own composition, but we’ll come to that later.

The first thing I noticed on arrival was that the orchestral layout was different from usual. Normally, Thomas Søndergård prefers to have the violas on his right in the front but Mr Widmann had placed the cellos there, in the more traditional position. As a singer, I always prefer the cellos behind me in the front to the right of the conductor. As a bass, I like the fact that the instrument nearest my voice range is close at hand, and generally, I feel more comfortable with that arrangement. Modern orchestras tend these days to favour the viola option, but I relished the opulent sound of the RSNO Cello section, especially with their new principal cello, Pei-Jee Ng, to the fore.

When Mr Widmann bounced on to the podium, it was clear that this was to be no run of the mill Mozart concert, and, batonless, he led us through the 40th Symphony with an elan and a relish that was quite phenomenal. The last three symphonies were all written in the white heat of 1788, apparently not to any commission, but because they needed to be written. Mozart was beginning to have some money worries, but despite all the stories and legends about his last years, he had no idea that his life was about to end, and I don’t think we can read gloom and foreboding into the minor key sound world of the 40th.

I used the word ‘bounced’ for Mr Widmann’s entrance, and that continued throughout his performance. One couldn’t get much further away from Thomas Søndergård’s balletic elegance in Jörg Widmann’s hyperactive conducting style, all arms and legs and sweeping gestures, but it was wildly exciting, and you could really see the RSNO responding in a positive way throughout. It is a great idea to switch round conductors through the season, and this proved an inspired choice.

One of the world’s most unusual instruments had been engaged for this concert, the Glass Harmonica. The ancient practice of using bowls of water filled to different levels to produce different pitches if rubbed by moistened fingers was given a new celebrity by the invention by Benjamin Franklin in 1761 of a mechanical system which he called an ‘armonica’. Mozart discovered it and wrote a lovely adagio for the instrument in 1791 which we heard after the interval, played by the glass harmonica virtuoso, the Austrian Christa Schönfeldinger.

In the first half of the concert, after Mozart 40, the orchestra and Ms Schönfeldinger played ‘Armonica’, a soundscape piece by Jörg Widmann for glass harmonica, accordion, various percussion instruments, piano, celeste, harp and orchestra. The main problem was that we were never sure when we were hearing the harmonica, and the whole was such a mishmash that one was left asking, ‘Why?’ I’m afraid I don’t know the answer, although it was interesting to hear a saw being played, and the sound of a gong submerged in water! With great crescendi and diminuendi taking place, often with thunderous timpani, I am afraid I was left bewildered and confused. I felt sorry for Ms Schönfeldinger, in soloist position, but not really heard.

Fortunately, after the interval, she played the Mozart Adagio exquisitely (gently amplified for the big space), and we had a chance to hear what must have inspired Mozart’s imagination. It would surely have been more sensible to play the Mozart first, so we could adjust our ears to this gentle sound.  

Once the stage crew had removed the extraordinary watery contraption, we were ready to plunge into Mozart’s last symphony, his 41st. Rather like Beethoven’s 9th, this final venture into symphonic creativity was ground-breaking and forward looking. Overlooked for thirty years after the composer’s premature death at the age of 35, it has established itself historically as perhaps the most perfect symphony of the Classical Period, its exuberance and technical mastery combining to produce something very special.

I have always enjoyed the 41st, but this performance by the RSNO under Jörg Widmann at the Usher Hall was quite exceptional. From the dramatic opening, reminiscent of Mozart’s operatic style, with Paul Philbert playing period timpani, the symphony proceeded to astonish and delight. Mr Widmann’s quirky conducting style, with histrionic arm movements, moments of stillness and physical leaps into the air, was absolutely mesmerising, an apt comparison since Dr Anton Mesmer was a controversial figure in contemporary Vienna and was a great fan of the glass harmonica!

After the powerful opening movement, the slow movement was a model of chromatic elegance, as was the minuet third movement. The RSNO woodwind was beautifully balanced with the strings, with strong contributions from all the principals. It should be noted that, at this time of year, many of the principal posts are played by guests or assistant principals, but such is the homogeneity of the orchestra that no diminution in the quality of playing is noticeable at all.

Mr Widmann continued to find revelatory moments throughout this extraordinary score, and, by the time we reached the exuberant finale, played at a rollicking tempo, the double fugue positively crackling, the audience was on its toes, ready to acclaim this wonderful performance. I may not appreciate Widmann’s own compositions too much, but I was thrilled by his conducting, and it was very clear that the RSNO shared that love. They looked positively exuberant at the end, proving their dexterity in playing repertoire rather different from normal, and fully justifying the decision to play Mozart with a modern band.

We await next week’s Verdi Requiem with bated breath, as this season draws to a close. I’ll offer a few tips for next season’s concerts when I review the Verdi next week.