Somehow PKF – Prague Philharmonia always manages to pack more into an evening than an orchestra twice its size. Chief Conductor and Music Director Emmanuel Villaume, now in his seventh season with PKF, has also brought a broader repertoire to the ensemble. This outing featured a particularly tasty blend of composers and genres, along with French fare not often heard in Prague.
The versatility that comes with being a chamber orchestra was clear in the opening and closing pieces. Gounod’s Petite Symphonie featured nine players from the orchestra’s woodwind section, which is first-rate – a Philharmonia Octet release on Supraphon several years ago showed expertise ranging from Mozart to Gideon Klein. Though not quite as sharp in this performance, the group’s treatment of Gounod was nimble and lustrous, rendered in golden tones. Villaume set a brisk pace and crafted a transparent sound that nicely showcased the skills of individual players.
The concluding piece, Mendelssohn’s Symphony for Strings no. 7 in D minor, brought the orchestra’s strings to the fore in a dynamic reading by Villaume that surged with surprising power. After a vibrant opening movement that drew on the orchestra’s Romantic roots, he handled the Andante with a light touch, weaving textures as fine as gossamer. There were echoes of early music in the phrasing of the third movement, which built a propulsive energy that carried into a ringing finale. The strings practically sang in an enthusiastic invocation of a young composer’s invention and inspiration – in the final movement, clearly Mozart.
Which made Mozart a natural choice for the concerto, with Korean phenomenon Bomsori Kim as soloist in the Violin Concerto no. 1 in B flat major, K207. Kim is 32 and has won a stack of prestigious awards, but when she walks onstage, her diminutive size and impish smile make her look like a student who got lost on the way to a youth orchestra concert – until she starts playing. She has the poise of a seasoned pro and technical skills to match, flying through virtuoso passages with breathtaking ease. In some ways Kim is almost too good; her fluency and speed leave some of the notes for the audience to fill in. Otherwise, she gave a spirited account of Mozart, helped by sensitive support from Villaume and the orchestra, which provided elegant, buoyant backing.
An encore of the Sarabande from Bach’s Violin Partita no. 2 highlighted Kim’s combination of brilliant technical skills and young voice. Technically impeccable, her interpretation nonetheless lacked the mournful undertone that gives the movement resonance and depth. This will no doubt come with experience, and in the meantime the prolonged applause she generated offered a convincing demonstration of her ability to engage and enliven an audience.
For all that, the real treat of the evening was a set of symphonic fragments from Albert Roussel’s ballet-pantomime Le Festin de l’araignée (The Spider’s Feast). The scampering of insects and flutter of butterfly wings was clear amid sweeping cinematic vistas and intimate iridescent textures that Villaume evoked. Even in fragments the score has a narrative quality that he drew out with an unhurried tempo and careful attention to the many small details in Roussel’s innovative orchestration. Lively and fresh, the piece added charm and a touch of whimsy to the program.
In all, an edifying and very entertaining evening. And yet another reminder from Prague’s youngest, most ambitious orchestra that small is beautiful.
