Gustavo Dudamel made a welcome return to the BBC Proms after his debut with the Simon Bolivar Orchestra nearly 3 years ago. The Venezuelan-born conductor is music director of the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and chose to perform Ravel’s La Valse, a Clarinet Concerto (Peacock Tales) by Anders Hillborg and finally, to end the concert, the wonderful Berlioz Symphonie Fantastique.
La Valse was finished towards the end of 1919 after nearly 13 years. Ravel had intended it to be for ballet, as well as a celebration of the Viennese Waltz. It starts with low rumbling basses, and shimmers from the strings, the tune played mostly by the woodwind section emerging amongst the magical, impressionistic darkness. Suddenly, there is a real sense of the waltz. One could certainly dance to this, as the tempo is, in my opinion, perfect. Dudamel balances the orchestra very well, where all the voices can be heard, and none are drowned by the other. The end finishes in rapture, with a very heavy percussive climax, the waltz rhythm being shattered in the last two bars, which reflects the trauma experienced by Ravel in the last few years.
Anders Hillborg’s Clarinet Concerto was especially written for the soloist, Martin Fröst and incorporates and dance, mime and lighting which is rather unusual. After a very simple, calm introduction with solo clarinet, the orchestra slowly joins in with heavy chords. The clarinet shrieks wildly, which seems to imitate the peacock. Martin Fröst, after a few minutes of playing, put on a peacock mask and started to dance/mime while the orchestra continued its long, held chords. The lighting changed colours, according to the colours of the music, which I thought was very clever. The visual aspect helps the audience understand the music. The whole piece is a journey through many different musical and emotional ‘stations’ where the soloist appears masked and unmasked at different periods. For those who have heard contemporary music before, this composition is not bad, but it is rather heavy for those who have not yet really explored contemporary composition.