Kirill Karabits and the B.S.O.

Following on my last posting, I was at the Colston Hall in Bristol last night to hear the first programme there of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra under their new principal conductor, the young Ukranian, Kirill Karabits. As he appeared on the platform the audience welcomed him warmly, but he is the antithesis of a showy extrovert, and having briefly acknowledged the applause, he turned to face his new orchestra, and in a moment we were into the first piece. From my seat above the orchestra I was able to watch his distinctive conducting style. He uses no baton but with expressive hands and arms, moulds the music, his eyes darting from the score to the players as if together they were conjuring up the sound. A comment by Christine (Dec 5th) on the first concert I saw him conduct, referred to the passion of his conducting. I agree and it is marked by the important qualities of commitment and concentration as well.

The three varied works performed last night were a challenge to this new collaboration. My main interest was the symphony, Sibelius’s 2nd. I have several recordings and treasure performances by John Barbirolli and Simon Rattle. It’s a work I love – perhaps too much for I was just a little disappointed with last night’s performance, but cannot be sure why. Perhaps I was expecting too much. A work of starts and endings, it’s not easy to create a sense of wholeness. But it was played with verve and, yes, passion, and deserved the enthusiastic response from the audience at its ending.

Renaud Capucon was the soloist in Bruch’s Violin Concerto and gave a splendid performance which was matched by the sensitive accompanying of the orchestra; it was all of a piece. But the unexpected revelation of the concert for me was the opening work, The Frescoes of Piero della Francesca by the Czech composer Bohuslav Martinu (1890-19159). Densely orchestrated, employing every part of the orchestra, it revealed a hidden melodic unity which emerged continually from the torrent of sound, which I found exciting and very moving. Critics of Martinu suggest that he had no clear style and was too influenced by changing fashions in music. From the little that I have heard of his huge output that would have been my impression until last night. I was overwhelmed by the piece. Talking to a member of the orchestra in the interval he said he had never played the work before. That was in no way apparent and pays tribute to the quality of the orchestra and the preparation of its conductor.

The confidence and élan of the performances bodes well for the future of a new partnership, which we celebrated last night.

B.R.

Charismatic Conductors

There have been quite a few changes on the orchestral scene recently and I have picked up references to three conductors who have mounted the podium for the first time as musical directors of orchestras. The most sensational of them is of course the 28 year old Venezuelan, Gustavo Dudamel, who has featured in these blogs before (and in many other places!). He opened his tenure as director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic last week with a formidable programme of Mahler and John Cage, conducting without a score and receiving a ten minute standing ovation with the final work. ‘Here was a probing, rigorous and richly characterised interpretation’ wrote the New York Times music critic.

Here at home my local orchestra, The Bournemouth Symphony, was conducted by the Ukranian Kirill Karabits for the first time in his role as their chief conductor . Fiona Maddocks from The Sunday Observer was there, and she gave him and what she describes as ‘this fine orchestra’, an enthusiastic review. She called it ‘an exhilarating debut which won a rapturous response from the capacity audience’. Andrew Clements in The Guardian was more cautious and complained that the performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring lacked ’a sense of overall organisation’ and strained the resources of the orchestra. The same orchestra, but different perceptions. I heard Karabits conducting his new orchestra last year ( see December 5th.blog ) and was impressed, and will be hearing this new combination again later this month.

There’s a new duo in Scotland as well. Donald Runnicles is now the chief conductor of the B.B.C. Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Rowena Smith reviewed a recent concert in the City Halls, Glasgow. Mahler’s 1st Symphony was the main work, as it had been in Los Angeles a few days before. The critic was impressed and, it ‘bodes well for the future’ she concludes. With a passing reference to the number of young conductors around – Krabbitts is 32 – she says that despite the excitement of youth, Scotland has opted for experience. Runnicles has also come home. Scottish by birth, he has many positions of responsibility in America and Europe, some of which remain and has a considerable operatic reputation.

An interesting week with perhaps rather too much attention to the figure on the rostrum. Whatever the charisma of the man or woman out in front, its the players who make the music. Despite the enormous enthusiasm for Dudamel, it is significent that he accepted the applause by standing not alone, but with the orchestra.

B.R.