|
Reviews
Belfast News Letter
Claran McKeown
February 22, 1993
The game is up for male posers on the rostrum — on
Friday evening in the Ulster Hall, Maestra Gisèle Ben-Dor
gave one of the finest displays of detailed conducting
I have ever witnessed — and with far less playing to
the gallery than is the norm.
While one could have pride that the home team in the
shape of the Ulster Orchestra responded so splendidly
to her demands, I was left with the feeling that Ms.
Ben-Dor had much more to give than could be delivered
with less than a full symphony orchestra and only four
days of rehearsal.
Within those continuous limitations, the Ulster Orchestra
has rightly won a reputation far higher than should
reasonably be expected from a relatively small provincial
orchestra, not least because of the first-class players
who have chosen to settle here and devote their musical
lives to it.
On Friday evening, both in Copland's Appalachian Spring,
and Dvorak's Symphony No. 8, they played above themselves
under Ms. Ben-Dor's brilliant guidance, every single
section delivering the colours and textures demanded
in near perfect ensemble. Here was concentration without
pain, under the joyful application of musical intelligence
by a conductor who is an artist down to every last purposeful
flick of her elegant fingers.
One could see the effect in the players' faces: they
paid far more attention than is sometimes the case,
and it was the concentration of musicians taking their
full part in an ensemble performance, not the hunted
anxiety of section leaders fearful of being plunged
into a scramble.
Even players well behind their principals were keeping
an eye on the conductor. Perhaps most telling of all,
there was a virtual absence of that distressing tendency
of some, when temporarily uninvolved, to slouch, or
even to whisper to a colleague, as if they were in the
rehearsal room instead of the concert hall.
As to the heralded glamour of Ms. Ben-Dor's appearance,
well yes, she was obviously all of that, attractive,
intelligent, elegant, poised, vivacious — but that was
entirely secondary from the slow, controlled opening
of Copland's balletic Appalachian Spring onward.
The fine bassoon of Charles Miller, the piccolo skill
— and breath stamina — of Elizabeth Bennett, the perfect
timing of percussionist Malcolm Neale were among the
usually overlooked talents whose contributions were
clearly realized.
And the trumpets, evident obviously in the Dvorak fanfares,
had a rare chance to demonstrate their capacity for
subtlety in their expansive, yet restrained, pastoral
colouring of the Copland piece.
Colin Fleming's golden flute can rarely have been busier,
with a variety of leading roles and in dialogue with
woodwind colleagues, and it was he whom Ms. Ben-Dor
singled out in the end for particular appreciation.
The one disappointment of the evening, and it hurts
to record it, was the Barber Violin Concerto with Paul
Willey as soloist. It can be a gripping piece, but requires
a depth of attack to ensure that the soloist is never
overwhelmed by either the virtuostic demands or the
huge forces pitted against him in waves. Mr. Willey,
popular ex-leader of the UO, now leading the BBC Welsh,
is a fine violinist, but on this occasion, I fear a
lack of attack and of fullness of tone left him indeed
overwhelmed at times by his former colleagues.
See what the critics in the US are saying:
International Reviews:
|
|
|
|
