When greats clash ...

by Gwen Herat

There were fireworks at the Royal Festival Hall. They raised the roof and the birds remained silent in fear. Everything was electrified. Yet, without any doubt, I will not place Tchaikovsky as the greatest Romantic but as one of them. When Vladimir Jurowski took him under his baton, there were fireworks. Jurowski is one of the greatest conductors of Romantic music today.

In the realm of classical music, he is the creator of all the arts and his orchestration of all music from ballet, opera, symphony, concerto, chamber, choral, keyboard or Ontario is in perfect harmony and flawless. Some orchestras have grown famous under different batons but with Jurowski it is immortal. What does a conductor do to make the difference? The answer is Jurowski. Great music maestros of the past are resurrected by him and the lesser known ones often surfaced and brought to notice. Somewhere over the moon, Jurowski rides high over their scores.

Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, Valdimir Jurowski taking on the Russian Masters.

Very often he becomes their voice and one would feel the flow of beauty in his creations. His orchestra possesses the most human quality we look in a conductor and in his orchestration.

As a resident of the South Bank Centre and principal conductor and Artistic Advisor to the London Philharmonic Orchestra, he has raised its standard to even bypass the few well-known ensembles. He has fused in such power that the LPO (London Philharmonic Orchestra) stands mighty and flawless.

Classical music is central at the Southbank with the resident orchestras providing music for the seasons that draws an international audience from around the world.

Tribute

On this particular day I was present, it had to be a tribute to war and peace in Russia and to recall the horrors and victory through music by their own composers which Jurowski seized the opportunity as a Russian himself. He had the extra luck to conduct their own, prestigious and highly celebrated Russian National Orchestra along with the LPO. It was a great day for the audience to listen to both simultaneously and the magnificent orchestra is with over 100 instrumentalists.

I am presently listening to the glorious score of Britten's Lacrymae Op.48 especially arranged for the viola and strings. The smooth flow of its music as against the compositions of Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, is remarkably different. One's nerves have the capacity to loosen them up. Not that I like Britten but he came out tantalisingly perfect under Jurowski's conducting. The three listed composers tonight are:

Tchaikovsky (1840-1893) was born in Votkinsk in the Viatha district and is one of Russia's greatest composers to date. His score for the full-length ballet, Swan Lake revealed his versatility in a mixture of opera, symphony, concerto, song and chamber music. Petre Ilych Tchaikovsky's brilliance is seldom compared to others. He was the master of his own genius. He died in St. Petersburg.

Benjamin Britten

‘If wind and water could write music’ it would sound like Ben’, said Yehudi Menuhin. One of England's prolific and significant composers who excelled in different fields and a variety of music which might be the reason that he combined himself along with Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich tonight. When he was 10, he completed an oratorical and string-quartet. Born in 1913 in Suffolk he also died there in 1976.

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975) was born in St. Petersburg and he died in Moscow. He was the greatest composer to have emerged from Communism and frequently fell foul with the authorities.

Peter Tchaikovsky

Throughout his 147 numbers, he maintained a remarkable accuracy and uniformity and had his own style of writing his scores. In person, he was crude and unbearing in his manner and most of the time rubbed against many but that nature of his, did not prevent Jurowski placing him on a pedestal tonight.

So, we know why Jurowski picked on these three composers. He was paying homage to his beloved countrymen who played classical music on world map for millions like him to follow and keep the tradition going. Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky are two Russians leading composers and together with the Russian National Orchestra and the LPO, I saw Jurowski's heart beat faster than drums in the orchestra and one could see the passion in his face and emotion running through his body. The body language was apparent.

The 1812 Overture, on 49

This melodramatic and noisy overture was scored in 1880 and known as the ever popular Overture Solennelle was commissioned to be played during the consecration of the Temple of Christ the Redeemer in Moscow. This was a great moment in the life of Tchaikovsky and he made the score very bewitching with grace to honour Christ.

The Temple was built as a memorial to Napolean's defeat in Russia in 1812. He incorporated the theme as an introductory score from the Russian hymn, God Preserve Thy People. It was followed by realistic depiction of the Battle of Borodino with La Marseillaise and God Save The Tsar.

It was at this point of the score that Jurowski found the full impact of the composition where Tchaikovsky was at his supremacy. As a Russian, he paid homage to the great composer.

The Russian hymn is triumphant at last and breathlessly thrilling. The very fact that Jurowski was conducting the Russian National Orchestra, would have gladdened the hearts of all Russians who may have been present tonight. They were ably supported by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the outcome of this magnificent composition would have amazed Tchaikovsky had he lived this evening.

Noise drove away all the night birds around the London Festival Hall.

Symphony No. 5 in D minor, Op. 47 (1936) Shostakovich once said of his score ‘I worked with an inhuman intensity I have never before reached'. Perhaps this score would have shattered his nerves.

It all had to do with the war and later with peace that all Russians in that era went through. He had the courage to instil its dire effects into music for everyone to feel the distraught. German planes nor the grim atmosphere of the beleaguered city could hinder the frightened people.

Greater than its musical content which frequently flows into musical disaster, is the historic importance of this symphony.

In his passion to fall in love with the prevailing atmosphere of disappointment and despair of a nation, Shostakovich may have been in a hurry to compose this musical score that did not appeal on the ofset but picked up in favour with conductors like the Jurowski who looked at it differently. Frankly, I was disappointed but with Juroweski wielding the baton, it made the difference.

Of all Shostakovich's magnificant scores, why on earth had the great Jurowski to pick Symphony No. 7 in C.

I still cannot comprehend and looking around at the audience, I still did not find the answer.