The few ensemble lapses and moments of insecurity during the first half of this concert had nothing to do with Richard Farnes’s conducting, or with the playing of an augmented Orchestra of Opera North. It’s in rude health; Farnes has refined and deepened the orchestra’s string sound, and the winds and brass are world-class.
But they weren’t able to compete with Hurricane Desmond. You could almost feel the building buckling under the strain, and at several points you feared that large chunks of Leeds Town Hall’s roof were about to blow off. It can’t be easy to play securely when you’re worried that the ceiling might be about to collapse.
Mahler’s development section was quietly awe-inspiring
Desmond isn’t a fan of 20th century music, evidently, and many of the quieter passages in Lutosławski’s marvellous Concerto for Orchestra were rendered almost inaudible. Farnes’s control was never in question; his flowing tempo meant that the Intrada had exactly the right kind of strutting swing. Cellos and violas gave confident shape to the first of Lutosławski’s folk melodies, and the chirping staccato winds were a delight. The brassier climaxes still sound ominous, tempting us to disbelieve the composer’s repeated insistence that this Cold War-era work had no musical subtext.
This performance’s high spots were many. Punchy trumpets in the second movement’s Trio section rang out, and what we could hear of the Passacaglia’s early stages was gripping. Lutosławski’s quirky writing for lower strings and obbligato piano suggests a film noir soundtrack, and Farnes gave the offbeat accents plenty of weight. The closing Toccata e Corale was thrilling, the final seconds a brilliant fusion of menace and exultation. Timpani and percussion excelled throughout.
Farnes’s Wagnerian credentials meant that his Mahler 1 never put a foot wrong. The arresting, static introduction was gorgeously played. Offstage trumpets were ideally distant, though the offstage hurricane felt a little too close for comfort. Mahler’s development section was quietly awe-inspiring, the tricky high cello line immaculate. This passage still sounds modern, the tuba’s pedal note refusing to anchor the music where we think it belongs. The discord does resolve, happily, with a delicious sequence of soft horn calls, magically played here.
We got a swift, effervescent scherzo. Genna Spinks’ immaculate bass solo opened the slow movement with some style, Farnes giving the klezmer episode oodles of character. Mahler's rambling finale didn’t outstay its welcome. The Tchaikovskian second subject really sang. The revisiting of material from the first movement was beautifully handled, an ideal breathing space before the noisy close. Horn bells were raised horizontally before the entire section stood up, a visual and sonic coup de théâtre that really hit home. Farnes leaves Opera North next summer – catch him while you can.
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