On a night when it seemed the entire Dutch nation was watching the Netherlands vs England in the semi-finals of the European Football Championship, French conductor Alexandre Bloch brought the Orchestre National de Lille to the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, for a performance which brought to a close his eight-year tenure as Music Director. Violinist Esther Yoo, recovering from whiplash following a car accident last weekend, was replaced by the young Dutch violinist Noa Wildschut. Rehearsals in Lille earlier in the week and further rehearsals on the day had hopefully given time for sufficient preparation. Anticipation was high.
Following its 1866 premiere in Bremen, Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto in G minor underwent a series of revisions with the help of Joseph Joachim, the Hungarian virtuoso who later described the work as “rich and seductive”. The challenge posed for the soloist is to find that seductive lyricism from the outset; to find the connection between each note and to tell a story.
After a rather nervy start, Wildschut rose to the challenge. Her confidence grew, her tone was sweet and intense, and the return of the opening theme seemed much more expressive. However, the work just needed to breathe, to take a moment to allow the sound to fill the auditorium, and to really listen to each other. At times, passagework lacked clarity and it seemed that more time perhaps should have been taken to fully adjust to the generous acoustics of the Concertgebouw. Lovely moments in the Adagio, where Wildschut teased the phrase, contrasted with a temptation to push the beat, resulting in frequent and unpredictable changes in tempo which both conductor and orchestra struggled to follow. A cheeky glissando led us swiftly into a rustic Allegro energico, complete with foot-stomping bravura, but again it felt hurried and snatched. Wildschut concluded with a poised and assured performance of the highly syncopated Tango Etude no. 3 by Piazzolla.
The question of ensemble persisted. Having chosen to give the ONL the benefit of the doubt following a rather rushed reading of Glinka’s overture to Ruslan and Lyudmila, repeated shaky starts – including a near disastrous opening to the encore of Elgar’s Salut d’ amour – and problems within, suggested that on closer inspection, perhaps Bloch’s expansive and sweeping gestures may have held the answer. The confusion continued into Brahms’ Symphony no.1 in C minor. While the strings appeared resigned to such ambiguity, others suffered and the trumpet’s rather disappointing entry at the end of the Andante sostenuto sounded pained.
All was not lost. Bloch’s ability to not only skilfully create thrilling climaxes full of restrained grandeur, but also to sustain tension, was commendable. Greater dynamic contrast might have added an extra dimension, but the full-bodied, Germanic sound from this French orchestra was exciting. The vital and energetic Un poco allegretto e grazioso ushered in the finest moments and, as if garnered from another world, a resonant and fabulously earthy contrabassoon led the charge. Ominous and soul-searching strings maintained a strained stillness before dramatic crescendos broke the spell. A lyrical flute and a plaintive oboe shone brightly. However, the French horns were my heroes as they revelled in their immense swells. After waiting patiently, the trombones at last joined the fray, wallowing in the harmony of Brahms' rich chorale. Even the soaring trumpets were forgiven! Baton down, Bloch momentarily gave the strings full rein – his role temporarily redundant before an immense and decadent finale quite literally ended an era. Appearing visibly moved, Bloch bid his final farewell.
