Saint-Saëns is among the many most paradoxical of composers. A classicist and self-styled eclectic, he nonetheless drew on the musical language of the Romantic period through which he lived, however eccentrically insisted that private emotion ought to ideally play no half in composition, a curious stance that his personal work predictably greater than as soon as contradicts. Gabriel Fauré as soon as described him as “probably the most full musician we have now ever possessed,” although others, notably Debussy, disparaged him as conservative and had doubts about his value. After his demise, aged 86, in 1921, his fame fluctuated wildly, and far of his colossal output stays in limbo. Maxim Emelyanychev and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment’s live performance of his music, nevertheless, was a reminder of simply how fantastic he might be.
All through, Emelyanychev shed contemporary mild on a lot that's acquainted. Most interpreters consider the Organ Symphony (No 3) as being about decibels and immensity, the place Emelyanychev views it when it comes to tautness and readability. This isn't to say that the ending didn’t elevate the roof (James McVinnie was the superb organist), however the lean sound of interval devices confers transparency on music that may usually appear over-plush. And what was so outstanding right here was the extent of element, with each word and shift in texture hitting dwelling, from the whirring strings of the primary motion’s allegro to the advanced brass writing within the ceremonial finale. Emelyanychev’s approach with the symphony’s structural logic, keenly exposing the minimize and thrust of its musical argument, was immaculate too.
Element and readability had been attribute of the night as a complete, although they often got here on the worth of dramatic weight, and Danse Macabre appeared quick on malign wit and menace, regardless of terrific violin solos from Matthew Truscott and a few deliciously creepy woodwind slithers. Phaéton, in distinction, was exceptionally achieved, the off-kilter rhythms exactingly exact, the gathering intimations of disaster fantastically plotted and conveyed. Steven Isserlis, in the meantime, was the lyrical, expressive soloist in a splendidly understated efficiency of the First Cello Concerto, the classical and Romantic components (Mozartian thematic materials, Lisztian cyclic construction) held in excellent stability. His encore was The Swan from Carnival of the Animals with Emelyanychev on the piano, devoted to the reminiscence of Jacqueline du Pré, whose 78th birthday would have fallen on the day of the live performance – an awfully shifting efficiency the place time, very briefly, appeared to face nonetheless.
To be broadcast on BBC Radio 3 on 28 March
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