A quality performance by an orchestra who shone most in the colossal, sumptuous acmes of
Bruckner’s immense work.
Bruckner’s symphonies are famed for their magnitude, embodying the grandeur of late German Romanticism with their rich harmonies and searing melodies. Perhaps best-known is his Seventh, an immense work which sees Bruckner at the height of his power, painting bold and broad strokes with the full orchestral palette. Scored for a large orchestra, there was a palpable buzz as musician after musicians filed onstage in the Duke’s Hall for this lunchtime performance of Bruckner’s great work. In this ornate, grand venue, emblematic of the prestige of the Royal Academy of Music, the Academy Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Ryan Wigglesworth (Chief Conductor of the BBC SSO), were gearing up for a performance which touched the extremes of musical sensitivity and intensity.
Wigglesworth and the orchestra achieve a mesmerising opening, with hushed tremolo violins providing a delicate backdrop for a sublime first theme, introduced by the celli and violas. The choice to seat the violas and celli in the centre of the orchestra, with the first and second violins opposite each other on either side, was totally effective here, as the standout of the ensemble throughout the performance was the connection between the viola and cello sections. Soaring upward in unison, they sang as one yearning voice.
Wigglesworth’s Allegro moderato was on the swifter side, maintaining a light energy which offered refreshing contrast to the depth and intensity of full orchestral climaxes in this first movement. Snippets of sparkling woodwind and string melodies were complimented by fantastic, doom-filled descending lines from the brass.
The second movement, the longest and most expansive, evoked a much darker mood, a tone set by the quartet of Wagner tubas. Though there were a few moments of uneasy intonation, this was an impressive effort from these students on these strange and temperamental instruments. Their grand chorales imbued the music with a rich, brooding sound which added depth to the movement’s repeated uprising theme.
In my view, the third movement, a Scherzo and Trio, is the oddest of the symphony. Ambiguously sprightly and gloomy, it is hard to present this movement coherently. Bright trumpet fanfares helped tie the Scherzo together, whilst shimmering solos from the woodwind shone in the Trio. But with rollicking dotted rhythms, darting melodies and a driving string theme, the movement at times felt a little mechanical, verging on frenetic, and lacking in precision.
Bruckner really was a master of an orchestral build-up on a cataclysmic scale. In his Seventh Symphony, this is feature in each movement, but most of all in the majestic finale. The Academy Symphony Orchestra and Wigglesworth displayed impressive control here, able to dial up the intensity to an unstoppable wall of sound whilst maintaining a nuanced, beautiful tone. The ensemble was really at its best in these moments, achieving the highest heights of Bruckner’s symphonic climaxes as one. It was a joy to see and hear such verve from these talented students of the Royal Academy of Music. In the symphony’s most exciting moments this was all the more enhanced by noticing on the faces of some performers a sheer, unadulterated glee whilst immersed in Bruckner’s glorious music.