Staged as part of the Robeco SummerNights series, the impressive Gürzenich Orchestra of Cologne led by their energetic maestro François-Xavier Roth, performed a highly enjoyable programme which was delivered with panache to a full house at Amsterdam's famous Concertgebouw building. Tracing their origins all the way back to 1827, this orchestra has been responsible for a number of notable world premières of the works of Brahms, Strauss & Mahler.
Offering a programme which contained three familiar and comfortable choices straight from the standard repertoire, the concert began with Mendelssohn's Hebrides Overture, a vivid and pictorial depiction of the composers' boat trip to Fingal's Cave in the Scottish Highlands. Written in 1830, the work is considered by many to be an early tone poem.
Also known as “Fingal’s Cave,” the Hebrides is a piece which calls for marked variances in volume, tempo and orchestral palette; the music swells and deflates as the waters that Mendelssohn sailed through and Roth here proved to be a more than capable interpreter in his endeavours. Displaying a great deal of kinetic energy, he twisted and turned, gesticulated passionately and appeared to live and breathe the music. One notable factor under Roth’s direction is that the entire violin section were all standing rather than seated. The intended effect on their playing, whilst not immediately obvious, did indeed lead to a clean and pure sound emanating from the strings throughout the evening. The second theme, sung by the cellos with a yearning, optimistic quality, was rendered beautifully here. One small drawback to note was that, at full volume, the added weight of the trumpets resulted in a rather muddied effect, meaning that some textural clarity was lost. Nonetheless, Roth had his orchestra well drilled with a unifying approach that delivered synchronised accents where they were requested in the score. The recycled theme later appeared in the form of a clarinet solo and was soft and gentle. Melodised gracefully, this melody was slow to speak – but when the sudden pick-up and subsequent hurtle to the finish later came, the orchestra did it justice, closing with a graceful diminishing B minor chord.
Mozart's Flute Concerto in G major was performed by Emmanuel Pahud. We were provided with an acute visual marker having “skipped back” approximately 50 years in time which allowed us to see a reduction in the size of the orchestra. This was a performance high in both confidence and fluency, Pahud proving himself able to deliver highly intricate, virtuosic passages. Every trill, every ornamentation was deftly dispatched. The balance between soloist and orchestra can be easily lost, but the musicians maintained just the right trade off throughout; easier said than done considering the delicacy of Mozart's writing. The slow movement’s opening motif made one wonder whether Johann Strauss might have gained the necessary spark of inspiration he required to go on and write his Blue Danube Waltz given the close resemblance.