SHADES OF MOURNING
Concert of the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra
On February 8, the Radio Orchestra, conducted by its chief conductor Riccardo Frizza, gave a concert at the Academy of Music.
WRITING OF JÁNOS MALINA
In the first part of the concert, the renowned opera conductor conducted the works of Latin composers composed at the very end of the 19th century. First, Puccini’s occasional dirge entitled Chrysanthemums – originally written for string quartet – and then Gabriel Fauré’s representative orchestral composition, created two years later – and re-orchestrated – from the 1898 stage accompaniment to Maeterlinck’s Pelléas et Mélisande , op. 80’s Svit spoke.
The particularly warm timbres of the Radio Orchestra ‘s strings, the flexible agogica of Frizza conducting without a baton, and the plastic contours of the entire performance served well the touching and honest expression of the Puccini work, even in its simplicity. But the complexity of the Fauré suite, its masterfully mixed moods and colors also came out excellently in their performance. The delicately nostalgic sound of the Prélude and the longing oboe solo of the Fileuse were hits ; however, Sicilienne, the climax of the suite, was performed in a particularly memorable performance. In addition to the tempo and basic character brilliantly chosen by the conductor, We owe all of this to the players of the two instruments that determine the mood of the movement, the flute and the harp; especially Klára Babel her magical, rich-sounding harp playing lent the music some kind of special, almost transcendent character. And once again, Riccardo Frizza ‘s sense of character and the concentrated discipline of the orchestra were praised by the mesmerizing effect of the bleak, obstinate scores and the noble attitude that permeates the state of mind of grief.
Mourning was also the final content of Rossini’s Stabat Mater, which made up the second part of the concert. Of course, Rossini’s masterpiece is notable precisely because it is particularly “worldly”, both in terms of its emotional scale and – especially – in terms of the origin and associations of movement types and musical instruments. Consequently, he calls out for a conductor who is at home in the world of Italian opera of the 1810s and 1920s, but at the same time has a tendency to deepen, to be interested in the deeper contents that can be expressed in the operatic language of the time.
The piece played a prominent role in Frizza’s career: two decades ago, he made his public debut as the conductor of the Stabat Mater at the Rossini Festival in Pesaro. The current performance testified that he really knows the work thoroughly and from the inside. He was almost always able to harmoniously integrate the comedy-opera-cabalet elements, which seem confusingly frivolous in many of today’s performances, into his musical environment. In addition, he shed light on the strongly dramatic and tragic moments of Rossini’s music with great personal expressiveness, “taking seriously” the whiplash-like dissonances, the large-scale, tableau-like choruses, the intimate lyricism of individual orchestral sections or the solitary sounds.
If I have already mentioned the choirs: the Radio Choir, under the management of Zoltán Pad, with a staff of about 50, was on par with the orchestra, which gave a very convincing performance throughout, and was even a determining factor in the performance of the oratorio. If we leave aside some of the independent performances of the bass part, which were somewhat disjointed, the polished and clear intonation of the choir, the imposing monumentality of the large forte blocks and the correct and precise drawing of the polyphonic sections were worthy of recognition. Especially in the forte, an extremely cultured, uniform and noble-sounding soprano voice soared beyond even the uniformly good performance.
The solos were sung by Polina Pasztircsák (soprano), Dorottya Láng (mezzo-soprano), István Horváth (tenor) and Mihály Kálmándy (baritone). Among them, István Horváth – he managed to be quite sharp, although apart from his confident high notes – he shaped his voice really nicely, he sang sensitively and expressively. Mihály Kálmándy performed this part, which is ideal for a more robust bass, with a slightly strained, artistically darkened voice more than once. I can only speak of the two female soloists with the highest praise. Polina Pasztircsák is the Inflammatusin the movement, she not only besieged the sky with the impressive intensity of her voice and the passion emanating from her, but she did so in such a way that she did not try to stand out as a soloist, but rather became one with the orchestra in a terrifyingly pictorial display of flames – which praises both the ensemble and the conductor. For me, the most pleasant surprise was Dorottya Láng, whom I had not heard before, who already showed in the movement ” Quis est homo qui non fleret ” what a great partner she is to Polina Pasztircsák in voice, expression, and intonation. ” Fac ut portem Christi mortem”.“, however, he proved that she is a high-calibre singer, whose success abroad is largely confirmed by her perfectly balanced, velvety voice, his confident technique and, last but not least, her personal radiance and expressiveness.
Location: Main hall of the Academy of Music; date: February 8, 2023
Article written by János Malina, originally published at
https://revizoronline.com/hu/cikk/10001/a-magyar-radio-szimfonikus-zenekaranak-koncertje