The solo violin repertoire is rich; from Bach to Bartók and beyond, the instrument has an enviable catalogue of impressive works. Prokofiev’s principal contribution to the solo violinist’s career consists of two sonatas (one also favoured amongst flautists), and two concerti. However, in 1947, Prokofiev was commissioned to write a piece for 20 or 30 talented student violinists playing in unison. The resulting Sonata for unison violins, Op. 115, was too difficult and lay untouched for another twelve years until it received its première in a solo performance by American virtuoso Ruggiero Ricci in Moscow, 1959. Rarely heard, Ricci’s 1960 Vienna recording is worth investigation. Tonight however, the Hallé presented the work in its original version, and was played by the first violins. Full of vigour and vitality, the entirely unanimous players gave a stirring performance of unanimous conviction – intonation, dexterity, balance and an impressive dynamic assurance all combined to serve both the music and musicians in equal measure. The display of technical finesse was enthusiastically received by the audience and the player’s Hallé colleagues who sat in the auditorium.
To follow Prokofiev’s lone strings, a further work of both augmented and reduced forces: Stravinsky’s magnificently proportioned Symphony of Psalms. Composed in 1930 and dedicated to the Boston Symphony Orchestra on their 50th anniversary, Stravinsky set three psalm texts in response to his own orthodox devotion. Violinists vacated the platform to make way for the Hallé cellos and basses that form the reduced string section of Stravinsky’s choral masterpiece, which also includes augmented wind and brass sections. The collective forces succeeded in an expertly polished performance: choral balance, including the Hallé’s excellent and enviably capable Youth Choir, is presently at a premium under the directorship of Frances Cook (Hallé Choir) and Richard Wilberforce (Hallé Youth Choir). The orchestra tackled fiendishly tricky passages with aplomb, incorporating astonishing articulation and keen attention to detail.
The Hallé is at the head of many inspiring projects for children, students, and young professionals. Aside from their extraordinarily popular educational outreach projects in schools (stressing music as an important and invaluable part of education), the orchestra provides first-rate opportunities for up-and-coming young artists – as exemplified in their Hallé/RNCM String Leadership Programme and the employment of an assistant conductor to Sir Mark Elder. Tonight heralded the new arrival of the latest incumbent: Jamie Philips. A 21-year-old graduate of the RNCM/Manchester University Joint Programme, Philips succeeds Andrew Gourlay as Sir Mark’s Assistant Conductor and Director of the Hallé Youth Orchestra. Following an intense introduction from Elder, Philips made his Hallé debut with Dvořák’s Scherzo capriccioso, Op.66. An old lollipop, doubtlessly familiar to the orchestra, it served as the perfect introduction between the orchestra and conductor, who led them in a well rehearsed reading. In lilting, waltzing strings, florid woodwind and pompous brass, Philips enthusiastically drew from the orchestra a well paced, if sometimes a little underbalanced performance. The audience warmly applauded his debut.