Spirits of the earth and dance inspire The Hallé’s visit to Sheffield

Time was when performances of The Rite of Spring were, if not rare, then certainly only in the repertoire of the world’s elite orchestras. Nowadays, it seems this music features with some regularity on many stages, but any feeling that The Hallé’s Sheffield performance might offer a reading bordering on the routine was quickly dismissed, inspired at least in part by the livewire direction of the charismatic young German conductor Christian Reif. It’s true that it’s a score that does not offer conductors much opportunity to indulge in interpretative flights of fancy – getting all the right notes in the right order at precisely the right time is really what matters – but Reif’s direction ensured that alongside precision and clarity we experienced the requisite amounts of intricate, multi-layered, decorative detail and, where necessary, exhilarating uncompromising power.

From the opening at-full-stretch bassoon solo ushering in what Stravinsky called “the awakening of nature, the scratching, gnawing, wiggling of birds and beasts”, to the final brutal climax of the rhythmically complex Sacrificial Dance, this was a performance to remember and cherish. You can tell when orchestras enjoy working with guest conductors by the way they respond not just during but also after performances. The Hallé, unanimously applauding and insisting on Reif taking a solo bow, were clearly delighted by the music-making they’d just participated in. 

Reif is a fascinating conductor to watch, twirling and sashaying his way through these scores, his arms conjuring shapes and patterns in the air around him that encouraged his musicians to make the music breathe with real vitality. This was apparent to contrasting effect in the short items that opened each half of this concert. The Interlude and Dance from Falla’s La vida breve was initially restrained, but Reif seemed more than willing to join in with the balletic jota danced by the guests in this rather melodramatic yet dazzlingly colourful score. Dobrinka Tabakova is The Hallé’s current Artist-in-Residence, and it was Pacific from her Earth Suite (the middle movement from a piece currently in three sections, though there are more in the pipeline) that provided the curtain-raiser to The Rite of Spring. Like Stravinsky’s work, the concept underlying Earth Suite is, in Tabakova’s words, “the overwhelming force of nature”. But where Stravinsky’s ballet chronicles the unstoppable power of the Russian spring, Pacific is more ruminative, evolving slowly if relentlessly from the subdued opening web of string textures to an anxious, uncertain climax before, in Tabakova’s words again, “evaporating into string harmonics” once more. Reif drew some exquisite playing from The Hallé in this piece: measured, thoughtful and not remotely flashy.

It seems astonishing that, at this stage in her career, violinist Antje Weithaas was only now making her debut with The Hallé in these concerts on consecutive nights in Manchester and Sheffield. Perhaps her very full schedule may be part of the reason: in addition to her concert career, she is first violin of the Arcanto Quartet; a regular partner with harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani; member of a long-established piano trio; artistic director of Camerata Bern for a decade; and holds teaching posts in German music academies. In Bartók’s exceptionally challenging Violin Concerto no. 2, she gave a performance of great virtuosity and sensitivity, in a work that veers between deep introspection and extraordinary ferocity. From where I was sitting the violin sound was rather dynamically constrained, though given the notoriously challenging acoustic qualities of Sheffield City Hall, where both harp and celesta seemed implausibly loud, I would happily put that down to the setting rather than any shortcoming on her part.