Two London musical institutions – the London Symphony Orchestra, and Sir Antonio Pappano – joined forces to present a programme based on fairy tales. Consisting of Ravel’s five-movement Ma mère l’oye and Act II of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, it ended up being a less-than-enchanting performance.
The best part of the evening was in fact neither of the orchestral works, but rather Janine Jansen’s performance of Bartok’s Violin Concerto no. 1 between the two. In contrast with his more popular Second Concerto, this lush, post-romantic work complemented the Ravel and Tchaikovsky beautifully. Though Jansen is known for her gritty intensity as a performer, she luxuriated in the Straussian harmonies of the first movement with a gorgeous, silvery tone. Particularly striking was the opening of the concerto, a solo rising arpeggio played with the utmost intimacy. The scherzo-like second movement suited Jansen perfectly, alternating between powerfully aggressive and slower, almost melancholic, sections. Though it wasn’t always pretty, her sheer passion and intensity impressed; certainly a powerhouse reading of one of the most demanding concertos in the repertoire. For the encore, LSO leader Roman Simovic joined Jansen in two of Bartok's 44 Duos for 2 violins - chamber music at the very highest level.
If only the rest of the concert were up to that high standard. Despite his vast experience with vocal music, Pappano's conducting of Ravel's deceptively simple miniatures was choppy and metronomical, with little sense of the natural ebb and flow of the line. The most unfortunate moment was the penultimate phrase of “Le jardin féerique”, surely one of the most stunning moments in Ravel’s oeuvre – instead of allowing the phrase to expand and grow, Pappano barrelled through in a most graceless fashion. The orchestra too seemed not to be on top form, though many of the individual solos were lovely. The overall sound was thick and sometimes strident, obscuring Ravel’s masterful orchestration.