Ring, Dvořák and Tchaikovsky at the National Concert Hall

After a gap of a few weeks due to other commitments, last night I went to the National Concert Hall in Dublin to see and hear another programme of music performed by the National Symphony Orchestra. Unusually for these Friday evening concerts by the NSO, it wasn’t broadcast live or even, judging by the absence of microphones on and over the stage, recorded. I suppose that might have been for some contractual reason.

Tyhe conductor for this performance was Patrik Rinborg, from Sweden. The first thing that struck me about him was that he is very tall – his was a towering presence on the podium. Looking through my back catalogue I find I attended a performance of the Dvořák Requiem conducted by him back in January 2020, not long before the pandemic struck.

The first piece, Everything was asleep as if the universe was a vast mistake by Judith Ring, received its performance in January 2023. The title is from a translation of a quite by Fernando Pessoa. I found this piece quite interesting, especially the changes of colour and energy, but spoilt a little for me by the repeated short sliding phrases coming from the trombones, which I thought sounded rather lavatorial and therefore jarring in the context of the work. Anyway, Judith Ring was in the audience last night and came up on stage at the end of the performance to great applause.

The second work was a perennial favouite in the concert hall, the Cello Concerto in B minor by Antonín Dvořák. I think most people, if asked to name half-a-dozen great works for cello and orchestra would put this one on their list. Last night’s soloist was Camille Thomas, resplendent in a glamorous purple frock, who played beautifully. Her body language was interesting even when she wasn’t playing, sometimes leaning back with her arms by her sides as if transported by the music, and sometimes turning around to look at the orchestra to encourage them. She got a well-deserved ovation at the end, and did a solo encore in the form of a piece called Song of the Birds by Pablo Casals.

After the wine break we returned for Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. In advance of the concert I had this muddled up with the Manfred Symphony, which I have heard live before. That was indeed the fifth symphony that Tchaikoksky composed, but is not counted among the numbered symphonies. I hadn’t previously heard a full performance of the Symphony No. 5 we heard last night, so I came to it relatively fresh. Things to note about it are distinct shifts in tonality through the four movements, and a single motif repeated throughout in different forms. It did make me think of the Symphony No. 7 “Leningrad” by Shostakovich who seems to have borrowed the idea for the “invasion” theme of the first movement.

I enjoyed the performance a lot – it was played with much vigour and nuance by the NSO – but at a first hearing I’m not a huge fan of the piece. It’s a bit less than 50 minutes long and by the end I was very bored with the motif. I wasn’t as uplifted by the final movement, where it reaches resolution in E Major, as I think I was supposed to feel as I thought it very brash and unsubtle.

Anyway the audience responded with generous applause at the end of this concert, which was quite a long one (partly because of the encore). For one thing that meant I had much less time to wait for my train back to Maynooth than usual.

#AntoninDvorak #CelloConcertoInBMinor #EverythingWasAsleepAsIfTheUniverseWasAVastMistake #JudithRing #PatrikRingborg #PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky #TchaikovskySymphonyNo5