NATIONAL POST
November 28, 2006

A maestro lacking in both flaws and baton

Stephen Cera

It is sobering to reflect that London, great musical capital that it is, boasts no fewer than five major symphony orchestras. One of them, the London Philharmonic, opened a North American tour on Sunday at Roy Thomson Hall, with its principal conductor, Kurt Masur, on the podium.

Distinguishing those five orchestras from each other is no easy task. The London Symphony Orchestra (soon to be headed by Valery Gergiev) is probably the most brilliant; the Philharmonia Orchestra (soon to be led by Finnish conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen) arguably the warmest in timbre. But I would not want to identify them blindfolded.

The quality they all share is that of being protean: an extraordinary versatility that enables them to absorb new music almost immediately and to handle practically any repertoire with a high degree of polish and a minimum amount of rehearsal. Yet in the days when I lived in London, in the 1970s, with eyes closed one could probably more easily tell whether Solti, Abbado, Boult, Muti or Haitink was conducting than whether the LSO, the LPO, the Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia or the BBC Symphony was playing. (On the other hand, one could recognize the sound of the Vienna or Berlin Philharmonic after a few measures, whomever held the baton.)

Two works appeared on the Sunday program: the Sibelius Violin Concerto, with Sarah Chang as soloist, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 (Eroica).

What most impressed about Chang's account was the sheer quality of her violin playing: the fearless attack, throbbing tone and immense range of tonal colours. The solo part, despite its hair-raising virtuosic capers, held no terrors. Her interpretation was "central," rhythmically firm, devoid of idiosyncrasy, full-hearted and exuberant. Sibelius demands not only massive energy and heroic drive from the soloist, but also passion and expressive grandeur, and these Chang supplied with immense flair and confidence.

Flashes of power in Sibelius's orchestral writing hint at the symphonic mind beneath the surface. Though unfamiliar with the hall's acoustics, Masur and the LPO shaped the orchestral part articulately. They seconded, but never swamped their young soloist, while savoring the uniquely Nordic atmosphere.

After intermission, Masur reaffirmed his distinguished credentials as a Beethoven exponent. The Eroica performance was not eccentric, the interpretation sounding simply right (including a welcome repeat of the first-movement exposition). Masur may not be a sensualist, but he is a stirring conductor of this work. His baton-less technique emphasizes rigor, clarity, discipline, incisive rhythms and propulsive pacing, even in the lamentations of the Funeral March.

He secured energetic, rhythmically taut and accurate playing from the London Philharmonic. As a result, the symphony received a strong and precise performance, held quite strictly to tempo. Yet it did not sound tight or dry. In its strictness, it kindled a vivid response to a familiar work.

This Eroica had a suitably striving quality, with unflagging energy and resoluteness and formidable concentration. These attributes served the intense harmonic thrusts of the opening movement as well as the monumental pathos of the Funeral March. The violin section's playing was particularly lively and alert, through the animated and explosive Scherzo and then in the broad and swinging Finale. It was an all-too-rare pleasure to hear a visiting symphony orchestra of this calibre in Toronto.

Beginning next fall, the London Philharmonic will be headed by the young Russian maestro, Vladimir Jurowski, 34, who takes over from Masur, now 79 years-old. (Masur, a native of Silesia, will remain Music Director of the Orchestre National de France in Paris. He holds the lifetime title of Honorary Guest Conductor of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.) Jurowski is also the music director of the renowned Glyndebourne Festival Opera in Sussex, where the London Philharmonic has been the resident orchestra for the past 42 years.