Opening the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra’s season, this intriguing programme saw Domingo Hindoyan pair late Strauss with early Mahler in front of a packed Liverpool audience.
Before two concert-hall warhorses, Hindoyan opened proceedings with his compatriot’s Juan Bautista Plaza’s 1928 symphonic poem, Vigilia. Cut from an easy-on-the-ear cloth, this was elegant music of rich colours and melodic tunes. There were attractive solos for woodwinds (above all, cor anglais) and vibrato-laden trumpet, and there was much to admire in the close ensemble between sections, despite the orchestra being vastly spread across the recently-expanded stage area.
The summer redevelopment of the auditorium, and in particular the new rear wall of the stage, may have contributed to the noticeably rich, sonorous bloom on the orchestral sound which characterised Strauss’ Vier letzte Lieder. That, and a hefty contribution from the lower strings, gave the soundscape a gloriously autumnal glow. At times, this was at the expense of soprano Sarah Wegener’s text (particularly in her lower register), with the balance instead suggesting orchestra and soloist as equal partners. Certainly, the orchestral solos were every bit as ravishing as Wegener’s gleaming tone; Timothy Jackson’s horn solo in September and Thelma Handy’s violin solos were the highlights of the evening. Elsewhere, woodwinds played with impeccable ensemble, so cleanly voiced as to give the impression of an organ chord, and Wegener’s immaculate control in Im Abendrot was ravishingly delicate.
In Mahler’s Symphony no. 1 in D major, Hindoyan neatly revealed that this work needs no histrionics or contrivances to pack a punch. All the requisite details and individual contributions were there, but it was Hindoyan's grasp of the symphony’s trajectory which defined this performance. Both outer movements were mapped out with flawless pacing, indulging the full throttle just at the right moments, and only after having been truly earned. The first began with the softest of harmonics in the strings before slowly blossoming into full-HD colour, the pizzicato engine-room of the strings propelling the merry wayfarer on his journey. Occasional misfires in intonation aside (usually when attempting some precariously high wind pianissimos), the development set up a huge Durchbruch via monumental effort, before a breathless hurtle to the finish line.
The inner movements were richly characterised, chiefly by the immense attention to articulative and phrasing detail in the winds. The Scherzo was suitably earthy and muscular before a giddy coda, and the slow movement saw wholehearted realisation of Mahler’s bizarre juxtapositions of tragedy (that wonderfully mournful bass solo) and comedy (some fantastically spicy klezmer). The finale exploded with fiery fury, rasping bass trombone and tuba snarling with rage. It may have been a quirk of the new risers and my seat in the upper balcony, but there were places where trumpet and trombone might have been reined in somewhat. Nonetheless, the joyous peroration of D major in the last minutes, with horns on their feet, made for a riotous end to a hugely enjoyable concert.
