Symphony No 9 (Shostakovich)
Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev)
Encores:
'Va. pensiero' from Nabucco (Verdi)
Overture from Guillaume Tell (Rossini)
Orchestra & Chorus of Teatro Regio Torino
Daniela Barcellona (Mezzosoprano solo)
Gianandrea Noseda (Conductor)
Pairing two Russian works from before and after the Second World War make an interesting contrast. Alexander Nevsky is a bold statement of patriotism and dense in texture, whereas Shostakovich's ninth symphony being enigmatic and nothing definite. These works neither reflect the trademarks of the composers' compositional styles. Prokofiev turns into formalist and writing masculine angular music based on religious chants, in contrast, Shostakovich bears all the late Prokofiev style for being sarcastic, violent and ironic. Both works also bear a sense of being impersonal and not to stir up the inner emotion too much, but an objective reflection of the time. It is logically then to round off the concert with the two well know Italian pieces pouring out the long awaited sentiment and brilliant triumphal end as encores.
On the podium, Noseda always wanted to push the momentum but his conducting not always accurate with indications. The first movement of the ninth symphony emphasised on robust rhythm bites but with the orchestra rushing through it, the playing lacked structure and some untidy corners among the strings as results. Woodwinds were better in terms of tone quality and responsiveness as a section. They hold everything together even when Noseda was late to indicate entries and more natural in music phrasing, especially for the climatic end of the brutal and dark third movement. A battery of percussion later joined the chorus for Alexander Nevsky. The choir was slightly imbalance with the male parts more able to project the sound of wall than the ladies. Intonation was fine but the diction did not convince me, which I heard the vowels more than identifying each word. Daniela Barcellona had the right timbre for the mournful aria describing the field of the dead, though from where I sat at one side of the orchestra, she was underwhelming in vocal volume and difficult to understand her diction. The Guillaume Tell overture would have been brilliant if the flautist had rehearsed the tricky solo part beforehand than a quick sight reading on site.
Alexander Nevsky (Prokofiev)
Encores:
'Va. pensiero' from Nabucco (Verdi)
Overture from Guillaume Tell (Rossini)
Orchestra & Chorus of Teatro Regio Torino
Daniela Barcellona (Mezzosoprano solo)
Gianandrea Noseda (Conductor)
Pairing two Russian works from before and after the Second World War make an interesting contrast. Alexander Nevsky is a bold statement of patriotism and dense in texture, whereas Shostakovich's ninth symphony being enigmatic and nothing definite. These works neither reflect the trademarks of the composers' compositional styles. Prokofiev turns into formalist and writing masculine angular music based on religious chants, in contrast, Shostakovich bears all the late Prokofiev style for being sarcastic, violent and ironic. Both works also bear a sense of being impersonal and not to stir up the inner emotion too much, but an objective reflection of the time. It is logically then to round off the concert with the two well know Italian pieces pouring out the long awaited sentiment and brilliant triumphal end as encores.
On the podium, Noseda always wanted to push the momentum but his conducting not always accurate with indications. The first movement of the ninth symphony emphasised on robust rhythm bites but with the orchestra rushing through it, the playing lacked structure and some untidy corners among the strings as results. Woodwinds were better in terms of tone quality and responsiveness as a section. They hold everything together even when Noseda was late to indicate entries and more natural in music phrasing, especially for the climatic end of the brutal and dark third movement. A battery of percussion later joined the chorus for Alexander Nevsky. The choir was slightly imbalance with the male parts more able to project the sound of wall than the ladies. Intonation was fine but the diction did not convince me, which I heard the vowels more than identifying each word. Daniela Barcellona had the right timbre for the mournful aria describing the field of the dead, though from where I sat at one side of the orchestra, she was underwhelming in vocal volume and difficult to understand her diction. The Guillaume Tell overture would have been brilliant if the flautist had rehearsed the tricky solo part beforehand than a quick sight reading on site.
