The strings of the Belgian National Orchestra begin with the Farewell Serenade by Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, a very fitting farewell from a world without major conflicts in or near Europe. The underrated composer Silvestrov composed the serenade in 2003, long before the current conflict. Putin had been in power for a few years then, perhaps Silvestrov already saw it coming.
Many know the American conductor Hugh Wolff from the Elisabeth Competition. He makes grand gestures, almost always his baton rises above his head. He needs a lot of air around him to sweep his baton through it. Rarely does he conduct with small movements. We constantly see his baton above his head, often in a rotating motion, as if he has implanted a little windmill in his wrist. With his great experience, he will certainly be a major source of inspiration for the orchestra.
Glitter Blouse
When the soloist of the evening takes the stage I think, … oh dear. Violinist Veronika Eberle is wearing a red glitter blouse. Shostakovich's first violin concerto is one of the darkest concertos in the entire repertoire. Does a glitter blouse fit with that? She plays very expressively, with a broad vibrato, even in the high notes. She plays sharp passages as if they cannot be sharp enough. She triumphs, she wants every note to glisten. Beautiful, fantastic violin playing! But is this an appropriate way to perform this concerto full of sorrow and damnation? She interprets the violin concerto as a triumph, whereas you should rather play it as a passion.
Afterwards I listen to the interpretation by Alexei Michlin, who won the Elisabeth Competition with it in 1963. Lamenting, pleading, sometimes rough and raw, sometimes weeping and restrained in the slow passages. You almost have to play it painfully. I did not hear that with Eberle. On the other hand, she plays brilliantly, with a singing full tone. She can only half move me this evening. I have mixed feelings, as if I am in the film "la double vie de Veronique". After the concert, CDs with her recording of Beethoven's violin concerto are also sold. That is a fascinating interpretation, especially with the cadenzas by Georg Widmann. In Shostakovich's first violin concerto, the harsh, hopeless, unfree life in the Soviet Union resonates. How can you play that now in a red glitter blouse?
Perhaps Veronika Eberle played the violin concerto too German and not Slavic enough, during the intermission I hear snatches of Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Serbo-Croatian and Bulgarian around me. Even before the concert someone taps me on the back, it is my own Bulgarian teacher. Coincidence can sometimes be surprising.
Overwhelming
After the intermission this Slavic concert continues with Tchaikovsky's second symphony, the so-called Little Russian or Ukrainian symphony by the National Orchestra of Belgium. It incorporates Ukrainian folk songs and melodies. The current conflict between Ukraine and Russia has not only an impact on Russian musicians but also calls into question the Russian canon. In the program booklet there is an explanation by musicologist and Russia expert Francis Maes. The Russian conservative elite of the tsarist empire regarded Ukraine as a small subordinate brother of Russia. For the obedient Tchaikovsky it was no different.
Can we listen to the Little Russian symphony apart from the current war? We should listen to the symphony primarily as a refined study in orchestration, we read in the text by Francis Maes, apart from the then or current geopolitical tensions. It is especially the brass players of the NOB who make an impression. A symphony by Tchaikovsky is in any case always a wonderful celebration, not bitter soul-stirring like Mahler or Shostakovich, but always grand, overwhelming and passionate. Wonderful!