In the second week of their 2013/14 season, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Peter Oundjian, presented three major works, beginning with two which were definitely not the same-old, same-old repertoire. The event positioned two English pieces as a stark contrast to the Russian one in the second half.
Benjamin Britten never completed his clarinet concerto. But in 2007, this piece, entitled Movements for a Clarinet Concerto, was constructed by Colin Matthews, chair of the Britten Estate. He drew on three unfinished pieces by the composer in order to make a kind of completion of a concerto whose first movement was sketched in 1942. Perhaps this is why the piece appears to lack in cohesiveness, and unfolds in a rather constricted manner. The soloist for this Canadian première was Joaquin Valdepeñas. This notable musician performed with playful ease; his tone was confident, and he was able to achieve a nice balance with the orchestra. It was, though, a somewhat shaky start, with the first movement not leaving the strongest impression. The third movement was the most satisfactory in terms of feeling and energy. The orchestra seemed to finally find their footing and began to play with the gusto fitting for a finale. It seems that the underlying rhythm of the last movement awakened the players. However, even with the driven finale and Valdepeñas’ interpretation, this concerto did not quite communicate. Despite the material being contemporary to strong works by Britten such as Peter Grimes, this piece was not so engaging.
Next, the audience was introduced to the Symphony no. 1 in B flat minor by William Walton, another English composer. It began in an incredibly boisterous fashion that was almost intimidating. Peter Oundjian fearlessly led the orchestra through the first movement, which was full of drama. Dark energy was let loose in the concert hall, making the audience hold their breath – this opening movement was, truly, a beast. However, it felt like the players quickly exhausted themselves with this high-voltage music, resulting in much less effective second and third movements. This piece was written during an unhappy love affair between the composer and Baroness Imma Doernberg, and just like that relationship, these two movements found themselves sinking. The final movement did not act as relief either; the orchestra continued to execute passages with unstable harmonies, overwhelming tempi and extremely loud dynamics. The brass sections was absolutely deafening, brutally overpowering the rest of the orchestra and even the additional percussion. The work is reminiscent of Sibelius at times. But was Walton as in control of this composition as Sibelius was of his symphonies? The audience had different reactions to this piece; some leapt to their feet, while others walked out slowly in utter puzzlement.