The Hallè, Leeds Town Hal
FIFTY years separate Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony, No 41 in C, and Schumann’s No 4 in D minor. The pair book-ended the Hallè’s invigorating programme to offer a fascinating comparison between Mozart’s ground breaking compositional contrasts and Schumann’s synthesis of classical form. Sandwiched in between was the captivating Horn Concerto No 1 in E flat by Richard Strauss.
Hallè guest conductor Markus Stenz adopted an usual platform layout for the Jupiter: two groups of strings each built on two double basses were positioned to the left and right of the conductor, with horns and trumpets similarly spaced. The resulting clarity of textures was a revelation: Mozart’s miraculous counterpoint was illuminated in all its richly inventive detail. Stenz, for me, transformed the performance into an exhilarating emotional experience. This conductor favoured brisk tempi to drive the outer movements. But I don’t think that I have heard the achingly beautiful second movement Andante cantabile sound more song-like.
Following an extensive rearrangement of desks, the stage was set for the larger orchestra required by the Strauss concerto. Horn soloist Laurence Rogers’ bravura style lifted the spectrum of colours from this ebullient piece - a virtuosic performance from both soloist and orchestra.
The horns remained in the spotlight, so to speak, for Schumann’s Symphony No 4; a work whose contrasting moods of darkness and youthful vigour were brilliantly captured by Stenz and the Hallè. I only wish that the six double basses had been placed high up at the back of the orchestra from where their febrile passage work in the whirlwind coda would have made an even more striking impact. The dark sonorities of the key of D minor prevailed in a much appreciated encore: Mozart’s brooding and dramatic Overture to his opera Don Giovanni.
l Geoffrey Mogridge
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