One of the oldest orchestras in the world, and one of Gramophone magazine's top ten world's best orchestras, the Staatskapelle Dresden reached Dublin on Saturday evening, marking the end of the 2008-09 International Orchestral Series. If the orchestra, along with conductor Daniel Harding and guest soloist Renaud Capuçon, were feeling the strain of the seventh consecutive concert in their European tour, it showed little in the exuberant and wholly charismatic performance of Schumann's Overture to Genoveva, his Violin Concerto in D minor, and Brahms' grand Second Symphony.
Other than a brief revival by Nikolaus Harnoncourt in the 1990s and a DVD recording of the Zurich Opera production of 2008, Schumann's opera Genoveva has received little attention. The Overture, however, has long secured its place in the concert hall. The stately grandeur of the work set the tone of what was to come, showcasing Dresden's entirely unique resounding string timbre.
Written in 1853, the Violin Concerto is a late work of Schumann's, and a rather curious one at that. It follows a traditional three-movement form, and although the first movement is designed with a classical double exposition, the movement is entirely symphonic in character, and lacks a cadenza. Nonetheless, Capuçon seemed to have an affinity with the concerto and commanded the stage in a deeply involved and engaging performance. Playing a 1737 Guarneri de Gesù; violin that once belonged to Isaac Stern, the French violinist treated the richly sonorous lines with expressive reverence, and effortlessly balanced the weight of the orchestra.
It was not until the Brahms, however, that the deep-throated visceral power of the orchestra was unleashed; the startling immediacy of the strings blended with the rounded timbre of the winds that was like molten gold. It is easy to forget that Daniel Harding is only yet in his early thirties, a conducting wunderkind of the classical musical world, such is the intensity and authority of his presence. My only slight criticism was the omission of the exposition repeat in the first movement. Whilst already the longest of Brahms' symphonic first movements, the exclusion of the repeat that plunges the listener straight through to the vehemence of the development section is a little unbalancing. Nevertheless, Harding's interpretation of the work was incisive; at once communicative and yet acutely personal. Conducting without a baton, his movements are positively balletic, capable of both sweeping largesse and gossamer-fine delicacy.
A restrained but effervescent allegretto hinted at the playful but stormy finale to come. In Harding's hands the rapid changes in character, themes and tempi were supremely controlled, tensions exploited until the final breathtaking blaze of D major.
In the encore of the Overture to Weber's Der Freischütz, the orchestra and Harding seemed to be as fresh as they were at the beginning of the evening, another wonderfully dynamic performance that was astonishing in its clarity and maturity.
The Staatskapelle Dresden's European tour with Daniel Harding and Renaud Capuçon ends in Glasgow, Tuesday June 16 at the Royal Concert Hall.
Photo: Renaud Capuçon
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