Shostakovich jumping on Stalin’s grave: this is the image that springs to mind when I listen to Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony. It's a fascinating work and the alacrity with which the packed audience sprang to their feet to applaud the National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Jaime Martín’s rendition would suggest it was the big draw of the night too. However each item in tonight’s concert was impressive and a magnificent cello soloist made for a stunning first half as well.
Martín made Smetana’s Vltava flow, capturing the sweep and arc of its famous melody. The vernal shyness of the opening flutes gave way to the fulsome sound of the strings as they swept along. Martín masterfully controlled the dynamics, ratcheting up the excitement before dramatically dropping to a hushed pianissimo.
The NSO was joined by Spanish cellist Pablo Ferrández in Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme. This was pure charm from start to finish. What impressed the most of Ferrández’s playing was not simply his effortless virtuosity, but the highly expressive nature of his performance. Coaxing a delicious sound from his Stradivarius and topped with a luxurious vibrato, he unfurled the gossamer threads of melody with elegance and poise. His mercurial dialogue with the orchestra in Variation 2, with its rapid ascending scales, was done with a hint of mischief, while the heartfelt mood of the next variation, with its soaring top notes, was quite magical. The NSO responded in kind and Martín always balanced the forces of the orchestra so as to allow the soloist to sing out. There was so much to be enchanted by in each variation that it was with something of regret when the lively exchanges of the final variation signified the end of this delightful performance.
Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 10 in E minor was written after the death of Stalin and is a profoundly personal work, one where the composer could breathe a little more freely after the harsh censorship and regime brutality. It’s not hard to imagine the blaring fury of the second movement as a kind of musical portrait of the dictator himself, while the uplifted, boisterous mood of the final movement suggests the ineluctable relief felt by many on his demise.
Martín conducted a compelling performance of this work, being most convincing in the strident Scherzo and the energetic finale. Martín elected a brisk enough tempo for the opening movement which helped him shape those long arches of melody as the music moves from mystery to heart-rending climax before subsiding back to its enigmatic opening. The second movement brimmed with pent-up rage while all the time remaining rhythmically taut and driven, the NSO responding with breathless energy. The string attack had bite and staccato power while the piccolos shrieked above the sonic burst of the orchestra – in equal portions terrifying and riveting.
The third movement contains the composer’s D-S-C-H signature theme, subtly shaded. Here, the lone horn was poetic and heartfelt while the cor anglais weaved its melody amid the rhythmic interjections from the other instruments. If I had to quibble, the first half of the finale tended to drag. When the main theme arrived though, Martín made it fizz with energy with its cheeky outburst from the woodwinds and lively rhythms on the strings bringing the symphony – and the concert – to a rousing conclusion.
