A somewhat puzzling selection buoyed by great performances
The concert at Liverpool’s Philharmonic opens with a rendition of Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade, a lively and almost playful piece of around ten minutes, which is performed with vivacious enthusiasm by the orchestra. This gives way to the eponymous piece of the night’s event: Mieczysław Weinberg’s Cello Concerto in C minor op.43, in which visiting musician Sheku Kanneh-Mason takes centre stage as lead cello. As both the orchestra and Kanneh-Mason launch into the strident introductory motif that will become the piece’s throughline, the first and most obvious issue with this performance becomes apparent.
Whilst Ballade was a short and relatively straightforward arrangement, Weinberg’s Concerto is far more nuanced. If the first number lulls you into a sense of surety, then the winding cello runs and abrupt changes in instrumentation will dispel any certainty you might have had about the pace of the performance. Not to say that the piece is not good – Kanneh-Mason delivers spectacularly on the cello, evoking a unique variety of tones and timbres from his instrument, and when the arrangement swells it is tastefully thick, with excellent pizzicato from the double bass section rounding out the accompaniment.
The tumultuous piece winds its way up and down before a series of cello runs finish Concerto in C minor for the interval. Before the break, we are treated to an honestly impressive and quite pretty solo encore by Kanneh-Mason. This was interesting as, despite not being a part of the evening’s program, it was an excellent time to allow the audience a small decompression period before the break
Elgar’s Symphony No.1 commences after the interval, though it appears a strange choice. Its positioning, immediately following said interval, and relative length, seem to me to take away from much of the impact and importance of the titular piece.
Though the appearance by Kanneh-Mason obviously sets Weinberg’s Concerto apart, one might almost be left wondering if this arrangement would not be more suitable for a concert focused more on Elgar’s works.
The symphony itself is also composed of four distinct movements (Andante. Nobilmente e semplice – Allegro; Allegro molto; Adagio; Lento Allegro) which each, in and of themselves, have a distinct feel. Unlike the four movements of Weinberg’s Cello Concerto these are somewhat longer and fluctuate less in timbre and thickness within each individual section (something one might argue reflects more of a traditional take on composition). This leads to a disconnect of a different kind than one may have felt between Ballade and its successor – following a concerto with such dynamism within each movement, with one whose change lies only between its movements.
Ultimately, it seems a shame that what were obviously such competent (even excellent) and engaging performances by all involved should be let down by what seemed an overly frenetic choice and arrangement of music. Any fans of Weinberg or Elgar would undoubtedly find something here to enjoy, but for a more casual listener it is unlikely to endear either to you when hearing them in this kind of contrast.