Recently crowned the world's greatest orchestra in a Gramophone poll, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra came to the Proms with a point to prove. The big American bands have stayed their side of the Atlantic this summer and the Berlin Phil has similarly stayed away, yet on this showing none of them, I doubt, would be able outshine the venerable Dutch orchestra.
Under their Chief Conductor, Mariss Jansons, they oozed class and sophistication from every pore; in two virtuosic programmes on consecutive nights not a note was out of place, each phrase crafted with precision and executed to perfection.
Before symphonies by Haydn and Shostakovich, the first concert followed Sibelius's First with songs by Duparc and Ravel's second Daphnis et Chloé suite. It's a quirk of Jansons's programming to place a big symphony first – his Royal Festival Hall concert with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra in March had started with the 'Eroica', followed by Strauss and the same Ravel – and it can be a risky strategy to reverse the tried-and-tested formula. Despite sticking to the standard four movements, however, Sibelius's First Symphony is far from conventional and was highly effective as an opener. This was not least down to a performance that was beautifully paced and luxuriously executed. From the hushed opening clarinet solo to the glorious Tchaikovskian surges of the finale Jansons shaped everything masterfully, a certain seductive languor in his approach looking forward perfumed sonorities waiting in the French second half.
As if the orchestra's sound wasn't beguiling enough on its own, they were joined after the Sibelius by Magdalena Kožená for a handful of Duparc's own orchestration of his songs. In this fulsome garb, the songs lose some intimacy but Jansons provided a delicate cushion over which Kožená wove her silky vocal line. She might lack the vocal authority of some in the repertoire, but brought a touching vulnerability in its stead. The highlight, however, came in the the Ravel that followed. This performance of the Daphnis Suite was a magnificent tour-de-force for an orchestra on quite such stunningly good form. Special mention must go to principal flute Emily Beynon – also a BBC Radio Three New Generation Artist – for her virtuosic contributions, but such was the quality across the board, particularly in the orchestra's wonderful woodwind, that to pick anyone out seems unfair; rarely can this bejewelled score have sparkled quite so brilliantly. Audience, orchestra and conductor seemed to enjoy it equally and Jansons, ever the consummate master of ceremonies, provided two perfectly judged encores.
With the Concertgebouw's technical brilliance firmly established in their first concert, the second concert proved more of a test of their conductor's interpretative mettle. While Jansons's Haydn is confidently unconcerned with the fashions of period performance, his reading of the 'Military' Symphony (No.100) revelled in naturally springy rhythms and a straight-forward joie de vivre, summed up first by the oboe and flute in their delicious responses to the first movement's opening statement. The occasional judicious pause at a fermata hinted at the conductor's flair for the theatrical, and the percussive outbursts in the Allegretto were well-handled. The final coup came with the percussion's return in the finale, their entry being just that as they marched gamely on to stand at the front of the stage. It was a touch that, one imagines, would have tickled old Papa Haydn.
There were military connotations of a far less jovial sort in the second half. Whether or not one believes Solomon Volkov's dubious 'Testimony' – specifically with its description of the vicious Scherzo as a depiction of Stalin – it's difficult not to associate authenticity in Shostakovich's Tenth with a certain rough-hewn intensity in the orchestral sound. Last year, Simon Rattle led the Berlin Philharmonic in an account that was altogether too urbane and civilised and several times the Concertgebouw and Jansons ran the same risk. No doubt, technically, their achievement was every bit as good as the Berliners', if not superior, but Jansons came rather closer to the heart of the work. The opening Moderato had an implacable momentum, even if its climax could have been more brutally shattering. The Scherzo, at a tempo on the leisurely side, bristled and bounced with enormous energy. The Allegretto was bitingly satirical, the principal horn's playing stunningly good. More outstanding solo work from the oboe in the finale's introduction was followed by a thrilling account of the allegro section, Jansons handling the frenzy before the eventual return of the DSCH theme masterfully. However, the exhilaration was tempered by doubts as to whether this symphony should be so enjoyable; enjoyable and viscerally exciting it certainly was, but only occasionally was its dark heart exposed.
By Hugo Shirley
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