CADOGAN HALL REVISTED 23rd September 2006
After the ConcertThere is never an officially declared race to post but I think we are proud of HWI’s reputation for being early birds that catch the worm of first publication. With a few minutes to spare, aided by two tube trains that each arrived at their respective platforms almost as soon I had arrived on them, I caught the last train home before the Wicked Witch changed them into abnormally slow buses, due to the major engineering work on the West Coast main line.
Cutting it that fine, because I had insisted on grabbing every second with Hayley, gave me a feeling of such euphoria that I switched on my laptop as soon as I arrived home, so it booted up while I prepared some cheese and pickle, intent on posting immediately. Very quickly, I realised, as I devoured my late supper, I was pushing myself too far and it would be better for my long-term benefit if I left it until the morning.
As I sit at home, devouring my breakfast and keying this in Word at just after nine, I wonder who may have already posted. Certainly, Steve, Stuart and Dave must have posted their photographs by now. If there are text posts as well, so what? Variations on a theme is a common musical ploy and it is music of which we all write.
A Musical Evening UnsurpassedA musical evening as varied as any circus programme. In fact, I haven’t been to a circus for a long while and ‘Carnival of the Animals’ would not have been an inappropriate choice for this concert platform, so great was the diversity of performing artistes it was almost ‘Sunday Night at the London Palladium’—now therein lies memories. That was the first time I saw Hayley but did not meet her and there has been a thread here about ‘How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?’, the TV run-in to finding the star for
The Sound of Music which opens shortly at The Palladium.
The Flying ScotsmanIf Andrew had a laptop perhaps he would have started keying his report as he killed a few early morning hours at Heathrow, waiting his return flight to Edinburgh. Presumably he is now in Edinburgh, getting his porridge oats and contemplating posting a report or a full day’s study on only a few hours of cat nap?
For him, more than I, it will seem unbelievable that just over twelve hours ago we were gradually congregating outside Cadogan Hall for an evening programme of which we had little idea.
The ConcertThe concert opened with a clear statement that this was the ‘permanent’ home of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Yuri Simonov, for fifteen years the Chief Conductor of the Bolshoi Opera, entered with the flamboyant statement ‘this is my concert hall, this is my orchestra and I am Yuri Simonov’ in so purposeful and elaborate a style of mannerism that only a man who is all of these things and ‘at home’ could get away with. With more than half-a-century of conducting behind him this is a man of both physical and artistic stature with a fine head of white hair as neatly coiffured as a periwig, In short, he was the classic Ring Master of the circus about to perform before our eyes.
The orchestra opened with a perfect rendering of the overture to Beethoven’s
Fidelio. Then we were introduced to Ingrid Fuzjko Hemming.
Ingrid Fuzjko Hemming, the pianist for the Emperor ConcertoBorn in Berlin to Japanese and Swedish parents and possibly suffering an arthritic condition, or perhaps the lasting damage of a serious fever that almost destroyed her musical career, she shuffled slowly on stage dressed in a flowing Japanese gown giving her the appearance of a Geisha Madame.
It seems to be the ‘modern’ trend to applaud at the close of movements rather than waiting the ending of the piece. Perhaps this is why movements two and three were run together, to prevent the applause that greeted the end of movement one.
Lauded by Bruno Maderna and Leonard Bernstein, her debut CD ('La Campanella'), issued in 1999, sold 2 million copies and being only partially recovered from her illness which has left her very deaf, it seems somewhat impertinent and unfair to presume to criticise. There was interest, since Beethoven was becoming aware of his own deafness, while writing this concerto. Hearing it played by a seriously deaf pianist made the performance more poignant.
Nonetheless, although I hadn’t heard the ‘Emperor’; for a long time there were certain aspects that troubled me, so I turned to the lady next to me to ask her opinion. She immediately introduced me to her friend, sitting in the row in front of me and slightly to one side. ‘She teaches piano’, she said.
The lady in question felt it had been slow and ponderous. I would agree with ‘slow’ but felt ‘ponderous’ a little unfair. I felt her quiet passages were excellent since she must have difficulty in hearing them, perhaps relying more on technique than sound and the range between the quiet passages and the thunderous extravaganza was well balanced but the lady felt not.
‘Did I detect a certain fumbling in some of the fast keyboard runs?’ The lady nodded. ‘I think its time she let Beethoven rest! The orchestra were very supportive of her, not in any way rushing her.’
Certainly, it seemed a longer version than I recalled and the orchestra did indeed stand out from her as opposed to being a part of her, especially as Simonov had introduced it as being a concerto on such a massive scale it was almost a symphony.
It was in this piece that I really appreciated the Royal Philharmonic. Regardless, her performance was warmly received as were her other two pieces. Left to her own devices she played the Chopin Etude known as the ‘Revolutionary‘, a piece I love for the sheer exuberance of the artiste’s opportunity to show total mastery of the piano and Liszt’s Grandes Etudes after Paganini, ‘La Campanella’.
The Extraordinary Second HalfAll AngelsReturning from the interval, we were introduced to the programme changes resulting from Aled Jones’ inability to appear. Suddenly, into the public realm, although already introduced in a small way as we have regaled on this forum, 'All Angels' came on to an empty stage bar Ian Tilley at the piano for them.
It will be interesting to see how they present themselves at subsequent concerts. Dressed as they have been seen before, in their white dresses they have a unique ‘uniform’—white dresses of similar length and appearance but relying upon subtlety of design to show extraordinary variations on their theme of white with black trimming. An interesting way of providing the uniformity you expect of a group while allowing individuality, breaking the expected tradition of presenting such groups.
For me, as appears to be the case for many HWI Forum members, my listening to the small snatches of their harmonies hit me almost, ALMOST, as much as hearing Hayley’s voice for the first time. It is an interesting sound and like many people I believe this is a group to be watched.
While Hayley is apparently supportive of them, I’m not sure Hayley should sing with them, perhaps as a soloist to their backing, until they are established in their own right. As a group they have without doubt a sound of their own. As soloists interacting with their fellows they are able to run the variations on a theme that is necessary to both excite and to hold interest but the moment Hayley sings then you move into that realm of the solo artiste where it is the uniqueness of voice that not only attracts but holds the attention.
There are many other ‘unique’ solo voices, each with their special characteristic, personality and penchant. This is where subjectivity of the listener determines as much as the artiste’s technique, where one’s preference lies. With Hayley, you know you are on the uppermost platform of them all, especially allowing for the fact that Hayley is still herself developing her voice and will continue to do so for at least another few years before reaching the apogee of her potential. From that point, hopefully, she will continue to hold attention and perhaps move into the hallowed hall of the truly great singers.
For now, 'All Angels' evokes an excitement for something new on the musical scene, a unique sound as a group. Excitement for their first CD, out soon, is not for the songs they choose. It will be for the harmonies in which they present them.
To some extent, this has been true of Hayley and it is with excitement we await her own new (third) international CD. We are at the stage with Hayley that many look to hear her sing their favourite songs. Not so much for me. What excites me is her desire to apply her own interpretation on song arrangement. In a sense this is a matter too of harmonies. Variations on the way any song may sound. This is the key to 'All Angels' but with Hayley it is the uniqueness of that solo voice… SHE will always be Hayley Westenra.
So, what did 'All Angels' give us? They gave two wonderful renditions of ‘Steal Away’ and ‘The Songbirds’ and were warmly received by the audience.
The Performing SealThen, using the circus analogy, we moved to the antics of the seals. We have been used to the singular gyrations of Fiona Pears and in my case, due to family connections, had the privilege of regular private as well as public performances of the jazz violinist Chris Garrick (
www.chrisgarrick.com/biog.htm), whose brothers are respectively the trumpeter Gabriel Garrick and trombonist Mathias. Their father is the jazz pianist and composer Michael Garrick, who never bothered to marry their mother.
Their mother is now married to my brother-in-law, herself a teacher and concert performer of clarinet, piano and singing while he has performed percussion for the London Symphony Orchestra and frequently conducts at music festivals. He is also a choral singer, which is how we all met one another, my sister also being a choral singer and pianist as well as a teacher of both, until her untimely death from cancer—she being seven years younger than I.
I cannot sing for toffee but can vaguely play the clarinet. In such august company it is VERY vaguely! My late father was much better having been an army bandsman.
However, I digress somewhat. The point at issue is that most of us and myself in particular have become accustomed to singular close observation of virtuoso violin playing. This was something different. Whereas Chris and Fiona play with a physical enthusiasm that makes their instrument seem a part of themselves and themselves seem turned into whirling dervishes, David Garrett was something completely different. He played with an extraordinary detachment from his instrument as well as making it a part of him.
He played some of the most complicated pieces with such casual indifference he might have been down in the bar during the interval, sipping a cup of coffee, rather than being on stage in front of an audience. His expression during some of the more challenging pieces was frequently one of general detachment, gazing at the audience in a sort of, ‘lovely evening, glad to see you, ’fraid this bit does go on somewhat, aah here it gets interesting, I need to concentrate somewhat, excuse me a moment’ sort of mood.
I overheard a conversation in which it was said his violin strings are in fact metal wires. I cannot speak for the truth of this but I can say that I have never heard a violinist sustain so high a note with such purity of sound and such consistency of production, including, I think, a change of bowing direction. This was a superb performance of such extraordinary virtuosity we knew we were hearing the
crème de la crème,
par excellence.
Exraordinary PeopleThe evening was an interesting contrast of superlative musicianship expressing the individuality of being masters of their craft. Siminov, in full tail-coat and ‘I’m the big cheese round here’ manner and Garrett, lolloping in like the rabbit in the film
Harvey, dressed in worn jeans as if he’d just come in from the hay field and wearing open sandals on his bare feet. He did change into a black suit minus tie for his second appearance, explaining it was Fashion Week, so he thought he’d make a contribution! For the curtain call he was back in jeans. His attitude was total nonchalance.
In contrast again is our Hayley, striding on purposefully, her figure giving the appearance of a young gazelle but driven with all the self-assurance of a lioness, who simply says, ‘Hi! I’m Hayley, here’s a song for you.’
All three artistes confident of the mountain of proven worth on which they strode and just the right side of showing arrogance. Excepting our Hayley, so much further removed from any sense of arrogance than are perhaps the other two, but then I maybe a bit biased!
The second half of the programme shuffled around a bit to compensate for the missing Aled Jones, bringing artistes back a second time to complete their advertised programme, so it was between David Garrett’s numbers that on strode the walrus of our entertainment in the guise of one Tomotaka Okamoto, a sopranisto.
Tomotaka Okamoto, a sopranistoNo, that heading is not a typing error or spelling mistake! You will have doubtless heard of castrati? This was a castrato withOUT the castration, a male singer with the natural voice range of a woman soprano but without having to resort to the technique of falsetto.
I had never heard of them before and the result was extraordinary. He ballooned onto the stage in the image of a Sea Queen or female Neptune without the crown or trident, supporting a bolt of blue and sea-green cotton in the guise of a Prima Donna’s gown at the close of
Gotterdammerung.
The performance was extraordinary. Here was another battleship commander-in-chief of the stage. Close your eyes and this was almost a woman singing. For me, the tell-tale was the power of the voice. There was something in that delivery that had I not known would have aroused the interest that something wasn’t quite what it should be. Beyond that, with the grandiloquent gestures of a huge (not so huge off-stage in fact) presence that dominated by force of personality but most forceful of all, a voice of great power, this was theatricality in concert. It was a circus evening indeed.
Our HayleyWhat about our Hayley? She gave us ‘The Water is Wide’ (Traditional), ‘Lascia Ch’io Pianga’ from Handel’s
Rinaldo and concluded with 'Amazing Grace'. In this evening of extraordinary
bravura performances she showed us the power in simplicity. Her command of the stage in her simplicity of just being Haley was no less than the exaggerated extravaganza’s of her predecessors.
Then, the voice. I had thought when I first heard that note from David Garrett and it returned to my mind then, to hear her voice at the same time as that long sustained note from his violin. Perhaps, to hear her sing something, anything, to the accompaniment of that note, if it could only be sustained long enough. Two different instruments, yet each rendering a purity of sound with such extraordinary clarity you knew you were hearing something unique, which you wished to lock into a sound chamber in your mind, to draw out when you wanted a moment of respite.
One is rarely aware of the effect one has on Hayley. I have experienced it once. It was in Cardiff at the combined 500 male voice choral concert. We were walking Hayley and Steve Abbot back to their hotel and somehow Dave and Roger were either side of Steve and I was walking in front alongside Hayley. Out of the blue she asked me a question. It appertained to a post I had made about the previous week’s Huddersfield concert. We developed the point I had made further. So, she really does read, in detail, no skimping, HWI’s posts!
I wondered if I had influenced her again, or whether it was just chance, because she is always playing with variations on a theme and seeking alternative ways of repeating an experience.
This is an area where Hayley and 'All Angels' could bounce off ideas from one another, each gaining from the combined result. The key to 'All Angels' is their harmonic variations on a theme: so, too, with Hayley, her working out variations for different accompaniments.
In my June Huddersfield report I had observed how she had coped with ‘The Water Is Wide’ by bringing in the cornet in place of the orchestral strings as there aren’t any with a brass band. Tonight, she had an orchestra, yet it was brass that came in quietly underneath her, not the strings, then some woodwind and finally the strings. Had she picked my point up, or was it simply the coincidence of an agile mind continually running permutations in her head?
Like the others in this second part, she came on twice, once wearing the delphinium blue dress and once wearing the aqua. I normally only attend a Haley concert if it is Hayley, Hayley, Hayley throughout the evening. Tonight it was only three songs but I came for the expected camaraderie of the HWI team and I am glad I did. It was not the concert I would probably attended if I had known in advance what the programme actually was. I’m glad I went. It was one real circus of a concert!
Peter S.
[Amendments purely writer's pedanticism!]