Hallé/Elder play Shostakovich ‘Leningrad’ Symphony, Bridgewater Hall, Thurs 3rd Oct

[Nick Armstrong]

Well, never mind. I expect most listeners were enthralled, but for me that was a mediochre travesty of what should be an inspiring work.

Would be interested to learn in a bit more detail which aspects of the performance made you think that.

I listened to almost all of it but not in ideal conditions, so wouldn't presume to judge, but what I did hear sounded fine.

[AjAjAjH]

I was at the concert sitting in my usual place in the circle alcove just above the horns with 10 extra brass just off to my left.

My first live performance of the 'Leningrad' and it is true you have to be present at a live performance of this symphony to discover its full impact. Nothing - playing a recording with earphones on or listening with the volume turned up - had prepared me for hearing it live. It was overwhelming. There was much fine playing - superb piccolo, flute, clarinet and oboe. The strings, particularly in the quieter moments, were superb. I was deeply moved by the section in the 2nd movement played by the harps, fluttering flutes and clarinets. The aching sadness of the 3rd movement brought tears to my eyes.

The Halle and Mark Elder go from strength to strength.

The cheers at the end were well deserved. A fantastic concert.

(The Britten. Pleasant enough nothing more)

[Stanfordian]

Just got back an hour ago from the Bridgewater Hall. A sensational performance of the ‘Leningrad’ Symphony from the Hallé under the inspirational Sir Mark Elder. The Britten music from a series of wartime radio plays was interesting and I 'm glad to have heard them. Samuel West narrated the excerpts from the original script splendidly. What with the stunning performance of the Elgar Symphony No.1 by the BBC Philharmonic under Juanjo Mena last Saturday at the Bridgewater something wonderful is happening at Manchester and long may it continue.

[jayne lee wilson]

On a technically impressive HDs webcast, the superb Halle strings with, as the presenter informed us, the doublebasses placed centrally across the platform to the rear, rooted this performance in a deep and rich tonal foundation. In the adagio especially, those strings were outstanding in their tonal beauty, power and discipline of ensemble (a special mention here too for the beautifully projected flute solo). But in the finale they were an equally impressive rhythmical engine-room, driving on the war effort towards a euphoric victory which arrived with clarity and control as well as overwhelming dynamics. Just a few barely perceptible moments of imperfect blend or intonation within the augmented brass section, counting for very little in such a passionate performance, utterly possessed of the Symphony's own triumphant, all-embracing socialist-realist vision. If ever such an apparently limited and limiting artistic style could find its apotheosis, it was here in this work and in tonight's performance.

Minor quibbles? Very few. I personally prefer a swifter opening; Elder doubtless wished to create the most peaceful and contented of pastoral scenes before the march, barely audibly, began. Here, the tempo was just right, and never varied right through that stunning change into A major and the huge ascent to the climaxing requiem. All the more impressive for the steady pulse even if, just after this, there was some agogic slowing through the succeeding tumult which the music doesn't really need. The long bassoon solo was beautifully played but could have been both quieter and more desolate.

The piece contains so much that is noble, beautiful, delicate and tender that I wonder how any listener could perceive only vulgarity or overstatement. As I've said elsewhere, I feel you can only understand it as a symphonic poem, cinematographic and multiply voiced; a vivid, primary-colours drama and an enactment of war, the experience, the suffering and the brutality of victims and perpetrators. Unlike the 5th and 6th Symphonies, it doesn't really belong with a Romantic notion of first-person self-expression.

Is ambiguity really written through it, or just beneath the surface of it? Wellington famously remarked that the saddest thing after a battle lost is a battle won. But Shostakovich's own comments encourage us to hear the violence of Soviet thought-control, terror, civil genocide and execution as much as a German Military invasion. Can we possibly hear it that way "in the moment"? Is that why it is so lacerating an experience, a triumph torn out of agony?** Or are these layers of meaning only inherent in its historical and political culture, a poetic and verbal rather than musical resonance?
Could that broad sunlit opening be a mere send-up of that socialist-realist style after all? I don't hear it that way myself, nor (unlike the 5th) can I claim to feel any subtle undermining of the final triumph. But if you respond instinctively to the music from the start and submit to its grand sweep, these are questions for later, when the tears of joy and sorrow have dried and the melodies - sweet or lacerating - linger to haunt.

** "The Leningrad Symphony is an expression of solidarity with the Soviet Union's revolutionary tradition that still inspired workers in 1941, despite the brutality of Stalin's rule." (Verena Nees). For a fascinating account of the symphony from a socialist perspective, see http://wsws.org/en/articles/2012/09/shos-s12.html

[vibratoforever]

I agree strongly about the quality of this symphony, which for me is my favourite of the 15.
My first hearing was a live performance by the Halle under Arvid Jansons in 1969. Recordings by Berglund, Rozhdestvensky, Svetlanov and Petrenko have been in my collection. Tonights performance was a match for any of them. Bravo!

[Nick Armstrong]

The piece contains so much that is noble, beautiful, delicate and tender that I wonder how any listener could perceive only vulgarity or overstatement.

[Hornspieler]

Well, that's put you all in your place!

No. It's probably put me in my place, but I found that after the first movement, which builds and builds to a climax (just like Respighi's Pines of Rome or Ravel's Bolero) the rest of the work sank into a sort of state where the listener is waiting for something else to happen.
Then, in the finale, DSCH attempts to resurrect the tautness, the terror, the final triumph of the City but it did not work for me, because those middle movements just seemed to be marking time.

I confess that I actually nodded off a couple of times during that period which I could only describe as an extended bridge passage between the two outer movements.

As for those brass players, they had a cracking time. Never have I heard as many split notes as there were last night. Sounded like a close encounter battle between the opposing forces.

So I plead guilty to not accepting a work for what it represents but for how it came over to me on the night.

Mea Culpa

HS

[EdgeleyRob]

Oh my heaven...

Why DOES this thing have such an effect on me?
I think I'd be happy if the Leningrad Symphony was the last music I ever heard.

Performance - Devastating.

It overwhelms me too Jayne,my favourite DSCH Symphony by a long way.
I was there last night,in the stalls just a couple of rows back,talk about a wall of sound in the loud bits,my word.
Staggering to hear it live and played so well.
A couple of fluffed notes (flute and horn)just added to the occasion,somehow made me think of what the first performance must have been like when you consider what condition some of the players must have been in at the time.
The invasion music was relentless,remorseless and chilling.
Those piercing shrieks at the start of the adagio made me tremble,hard to hold back tears during that movement.
Sir Mark Elder looked absolutely shattered at the end.
Had to take a few minutes before I was fit to drive home after that.

Don't really remember the Britten,I was too preoccupied psyching myself up for the Leningrad.

[antongould]

Magical review ER thanks for sharing........

[Andrew Slater]

I was at the concert sitting in my usual place in the circle alcove just above the horns with 10 extra brass just off to my left.

I was also in my usual seat a few seats to your right - A4 in the next block!

that period which I could only describe as an extended bridge passage between the two outer movements.

I must admit that my reaction was similar: during the middle two movements I felt as if I were under siege! Perhaps it was because I was a bit tired, or perhaps that was the intention.....



As for the Britten, it was interesting as a curiosity. It was mentioned in the pre-concert talk that the performance might be included in a CD of Britten rarities which is being produced. Also the 'Women of Britain' programme was apparently found on the internet by (I think) the timpanist, after the BBC failed to find anything, and the recording was used as the basis for most of what we heard last night. I've found it together with a few other programmes here.

[AjAjAjH]

Sir Mark Elder looked absolutely shattered at the end.
.

He usually looks worn out at the end of most of the concerts he conducts but particularly so after last nights performance. Perhaps that is why Lyn Fletcher led the Orchestra off after only 2 'curtain calls'.

It was good to hear DSCH No.8 on the radio this evening. IMHO DSCH Nos 7 and 8 are the 2 greatest WW2 symphonies.

[Hornspieler]

...............It was good to hear DSCH No.8 on the radio this evening. IMHO DSCH Nos 7 and 8 are the 2 greatest WW2 symphonies.

If you compare last night's BBCNOW performance of Nº 8 with the Hallé performance of Nº 7 you will perhaps understand why I was so critical of the Hallé's (and Mark Elder's) performance on Thursday night.

Even disregarding the fact that Nº 8 is far more difficult to play then the "Leningrad" symphony (and I should know; having played both!)

HS

[amateur51]

If you compare last night's BBCNOW performance of Nº 8 with the Hallé performance of Nº 7 you will perhaps understand why I was so critical of the Hallé's (and Mark Elder's) performance on Thursday night.

Even disregarding the fact that Nº 8 is far more difficult to play then the "Leningrad" symphony (and I should know; having played both!)

HS

I think you have to accept that AjAjAjH was actually present at the Leningrad performance HS, and as an experienced concert-goer, he is perhaps entitled to his opinion.

[Hornspieler]

I think you have to accept that AjAjAjH was actually present at the Leningrad performance HS, and as an experienced concert-goer, he is perhaps entitled to his opinion.

Of course. And so is everyone else on these message boards.(Including me and you, of course)

[EdgeleyRob]

Of course. And so is everyone else on these message boards.

You are a musician HS,I am not,so I value your opinions and love reading your posts.
However,I must have been at a different performance of the Leningrad to the one you heard.
I am very confused.