I wasn’t aware that this year was the 130th anniversary year of Tchaikovsky’s death until I went to the Tokyo Philharmonic’s all-Tchaikovsky concert at Tokyo Opera City, conducted by Andrea Battistoni, its Chief Conductor. I chose the concert because it’s not that often that we hear his three Shakespeare-inspired tone poems – The Tempest, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet – together in one sitting. It’s a programme close to Battistoni’s heart: the Verona-born conductor, in his mid-30s, is known for his love of literature in general and Shakespeare in particular. He has said that if he hadn’t become a musician, he would have liked to be a novelist, and his passion for these works was evident as he conducted them from memory.
The concert opened with the broody and atmospheric Tempest fantasy, which is the earliest of the three works. Composed in 1872-73 (Tchaikovsky was in his early 30s) in response to a suggestion by the influential music critic (and mentor to the “Mighty Handful” group) Vladimir Stasov, the work is a straightforward narrative of the play: the broody sea, the storm, the love between Ferdinand and Miranda, characterful depictions of Ariel and Caliban. Battistoni’s storytelling was eloquent and organic and I could picture the whole drama in my mind through the orchestra’s vivid, colourful playing, with standout contributions from the horn solo and cello section.
Whereas Tchaikovsky called his Tempest a “fantasy”, his Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet were both designated as “fantasy overtures”. If there is a difference, perhaps it is that the latter works are more tightly structured in terms of form. Hamlet (composed in 1887) is more abstract than the other two works in that the thematic links to the story are not obvious: here, the focus is on depicting the conflicted character rather than the narrative. Battistoni brought both passion and clarity to the work, depicting Hamlet’s emotional turmoil, but also emphasising the thematic contrasts and developments. In the Romeo and Juliet overture, he returned to the storytelling mode and led us through this beautiful but heartbreaking tale of the young lovers with plenty of drama. The orchestra gave a powerful and dramatic performance with some superb solos from the wind principals and focused and energetic playing from the string section. Battistoni paced the drama excellently, building up to the huge tragic climax – although for a few moments, I think the decibels must have reached saturation point in 1630-seater Tokyo Opera City Concert Hall.
Meanwhile, in between the dark intensity of Shakespearean drama, we enjoyed a little breather with Tchaikovsky’s Rococo-inspired variations for cello and orchestra, performed by Haruma Sato, the most recent winner of the ARD Competition cello category. He chose to perform Tchaikovsky’s original version of 1876, which is bolder and more flamboyant (and has an extra variation) than the familiar Fitzenhagen version (which Tchaikovsky wasn’t happy about). Sato’s playing was focused and technically flawless. His tone has both a pleasing clarity and depth, and in particular his agility in the Allegro vivo fourth variation as well as the beauty of his cantabile playing in the seventh variation impressed. It was also a joy to see Battistoni bringing out eloquent ensemble playing from the orchestra, achieving a chamber music feeling. I’m sure Tchaikovsky would have been happy to hear this version performed so brilliantly in this anniversary year.
