The RLPO were not afraid to be bold and dramatic, or soft and emotional when called for, making for a highly dynamic experience
It was a night of adventure at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, with chief conductor Domingo Hindoyan leading the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra (RLPO) through Beethoven’s heroic Egmont, Op. 84 Overture, Richard Strauss’ fantastical tone poem Don Quixote, and into the ‘fate motif’ of Beethoven’s immortal Symphony No. 5, naturally bound to be the showstopper of the evening. Also part of the orchestra tonight were Emerging Fellowship Musicians Danny Cleave on double bass, and Méline Le Calvez on clarinet, who will undoubtedly continue with bright careers in music.
The Egmont Overture was a stirring beginning; first performed in 1810 for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s play Egmont, the piece brings together the story’s overarching themes of righteous rebellion, freedom, and loss, with Beethoven’s personal anger at Napoleon’s unjust dominion over much of Europe. Hindoyan and the RLPO brought out the subtleties of the piece in a highly dynamic performance; quiet, slow minor chords to express the tragedy of the story building into grand fortissimo and a rousing, triumphant finale as the hero becomes a martyr in a valiant stand for freedom.
I did wonder over the choice to sandwich Don Quixote, which is longer but arguably less impressive than the 5th (though this may be a matter of personal taste), between two of Beethoven’s most iconic pieces, but thematically it complements the Egmont Overture perfectly – following the often sad and unsuccessful adventures of the eponymous hero, a crazed knight living in an illusory world of undying chivalry and romance. The technical mastery of RLPO throughout this 45-minute continuous piece cannot be underestimated and they breathed real life into the piece. With the wind machine softly adding to the ambience, the rolling landscapes of La Mancha, Spain, that set the backdrop for the story, appeared to me with remarkable clarity.
The solo cello, composed as the voice of Don Quixote himself, was performed beautifully by Norwegian Jonathan Aasgaard and was my personal highlight of the score. These mournful passages gave a different depth and sadness to the tale of the ‘knight of the sorrowful countenance’, juxtaposing perfectly with the triumphant brass fanfares of his imagined victories. Of the three solo instruments written to be the voice of Don Quixote’s squire, Sancho Panza: viola, tenor tuba, and bass clarinet, Ausiàs Garrigós Morant’s bass clarinet solo was the standout. I unfortunately felt that Nicholas Bootiman’s viola solo, a famous aspect of the piece, got a bit lost in the third variation and didn’t bring out as much of the individual character as it could have. The final variation also felt as if it ended quite abruptly, and though it may be called ‘sehr ruhig’ (very quiet/calm), that was not the way it was conducted here.
It is hard to find something new to say about the finale, possibly the most famous and certainly the most recognisable symphony of all time. Hindoyan launched right into the first motif with what I’m coming to see as his characteristic vivacity, and all four movements seemed to fly by, which is a credit to the beauty with which it was performed as well as a result of Hindoyan’s energy and pace of conducting. The lyrical, more emotional nature of the second movement in andante was not lost, however. Throughout the whole evening, it held true that the RLPO were not afraid to be bold and dramatic, or soft and emotional when called for, making for a highly dynamic experience and bringing out the narrative of each piece.The transition between the third and fourth movements in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5, where the key shifts from minor to major for the grand finale, was performed so seamlessly that I almost wondered if I’d missed a trick, and I couldn’t help the smile of joy on my face during the final crescendo. The orchestra finished to several minutes of rapt applause and whistling from the audience, who I’m sure eventually filed out feeling the same sort of high as me.