Somber Elgar and Tchaikovsky Program Offers Solace, Optimism
/By Truman C. Wang
3/7/2022
Cellist Camille Thomas, Conductor Paolo Bortolameolli
With the war in Ukraine still raging unabated into the second week, artists and musicians around the world react and respond as passionate observers of a situation that often seems helpless and bleak. Certainly, this week’s LA Phil program is a somber reflection of the world at large. It started with Chilean composer Miguel Farías’ (b. 1983) explosive world premiere, Estallido (“Outburst”) – full of energy and sounds of Santiago, punctured frequently by bursts of political and social unrest. Its novel use of percussion instruments gave a foreboding sense of tension and anxiety.
Elgar’s Cello Concerto was first heard in Los Angeles in 1968 when Jacqueline du Pré played and Daniel Barenboim conducted. Last August, the young British phenom Sheku Kenneth-Mason gave a memorable reading at the Bowl. In this concert, cellist Camille Thomas gave her own very persuasive reading, commanding immediate attention with the opening crying outburst, responding to the orchestra and moulding phrases eloquently. Chilean-Italian conductor Paolo Bortolameolli (currently Associate Conductor of the LA Phil) provided sensitive accompaniment (beautifully hushed bars at the close of Adagio), showing his understanding of Elgar’s idiom and ear for detail. Ms. Thomas’ instrument, a 1788 Gagliano (the "Château Pape-Clément"), produced a sweet and plangent tone that added to the pathos of Elgar’s music. It sounded otherworldly in the quiet encore “Song of the Birds” (El Cants Dells Occels) by Pablo Casals, which Ms. Thomas dedicated to the victims of the Ukraine war.
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 acquired its unauthorized moniker "Pathétique" from the composer’s brother Modest, meaning “emotional” or “passionate” in Russian (unlike the English meaning of “evoking pity”). Conductor Bortolameolli’s reading and dynamic podium manner fully lived up to the symphony’s unofficial title, with audible heaving and grunting during many climactic passages. The LA Phil musicians responded with the finest playing they knew how – the memorable clarinet solos, the terrifying brasses in the first-movement climax quoting the Russian Orthodox requiem, the polished, graceful strings in the second-movement waltz in 5/4 time, the giddy sense of mounting excitement in the third-movement scherzo, and that heartrending, life-ending ‘symphonic suicide note’ that is the fourth movement, played with chilling intensity until its pounding heart (unison double-bass) ground tortuously to a halt.
I do not believe great art can make the world a better place. However it will, for a few fleeting moments at least, offer some solace, comfort and even optimism.
Truman C. Wang is Editor-in-Chief of Classical Voice, whose articles have appeared in the Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune, other Southern California publications, as well as the Hawaiian Chinese Daily. He studied Integrative Biology and Music at U.C. Berkeley.