An Anglo-Russian Concert

The weekend concert at the Cultural Centre this Saturday was a wonderful experience. I got to hear two pieces of music neither of which is the type one is likely to hear over and over again.

The first was Violin Concerto No.2 , Op. 15 of Benjamin Britten, in Merato con moto, Vivace, Cadenza Ataca and finally a Passacaglia in Andante Lento, Un poco meno mosso, written whilst he was a voluntary exile in America at a time when he saw that Europe was going into war. It was whilst he went to the International Society of Contemporary Music in Barcelona in 1936 that he met the famous Spanish violinist Antonio Brosa for whom he wrote the piece and who premiered it as the solo violinist in New York in March 1940 ( about 6 months after the Second World War broke out). But shortly after they met, the Spanish Civil War broke out. Britten, a pacifist, was extremely unhappy. We can hear his anxiety, his dissatisfaction with the emerging  violence in Spain in the discord of his music although it was not without its lyrical moments. After a short opening by the timpani and the orchestra, with an ominous 5-note Spanish flamenco Haberanera rhythm, which is repeated by the bassoon and other wind instrument (and much later by the solo violin itself) , the violin entered with with a romantic melody, which then builds up to a climax, recedes and becomes more reflective and eventually ends in some high notes. The second movement begins also with some staccato notes first by the winds, then the strings after which another very romantic melody enters, with some very Spanish motifs and rhythm, has been called a "Dance of Death" and the third has a Passacaglia variation theme based on a ground bass which was repeated 9 times and the music instead of ending in a climax as in so many violin concertos, actually ended in a sad, quiet and reflective mood. A haunting and yet strangely disturbing piece which is very well played by the young Dutch violinist Simone Lamsma.

The second piece was Symphony No. 5 in B flat Op 100,  by Sergei Prokofiev, written by him in 1944, a very energetic piece full of joy and bombast  which pleased my hi fi friends enormously. It has got the usual 4 movement in Andante, Allegro marcato, Adagio and Allegro giocoso. The first movement was dark , the second more sunny but with a hint of strife, the third is a slow movement alternatively lyrical and anxious whilst the finale has the conflict resolved in amood of  frenzy. The HKPO under Jaap van Zweden was simply magnificent!

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