Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Manfred Honeck (conductor)
Jennifer Larmore (mezzo-soprano)
Saturday 6 October 2001
Melbourne Concert Hall, Melbourne
Presented under the auspices of The Age Master Series
Rossini: Overture from L'Italiana in algeri
Mozart:
"Va pure ad altri in braccia" from La finta giardiniera, K. 196
"Voi che sapete" from Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492
"Non so più" from Le nozze di Figaro, K. 492
March from Idomeneo, K. 366
Rossini: "Eccomi alfine in Babylonia" from Semiramide
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5 in E minor
Jennifer Larmore's first appearance in Australia left no doubt that a star had landed. In an equally auspicious guest appearance, Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck extracted a crackling performance from the esteemed Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. But the program was a bipolar affair, with the first half, devoted to Mozart and Rossini, contrasting rather oddly with the Tchaikovsky symphony after the interval.
The rollicking overture to one of Rossini's most buffa operas, L'Italiana in Algeri, was delivered with an wonderfully crisp, clean attack in which every instrumental element was clear and the tempos seemed just right. This put everyone in a good mood for the appearance of Larmore, wearing a splendid beaded blue gown and with the air of someone determined to please. This she certainly did, with a lively but stern-faced rendition of "Va pure ad altri in braccio," a trouser-role aria from the young Mozart's La finta giardiniera. She then assumed the persona of the hormonally charged Cherubino from Le nozze di Figaro. In both "Voi che sapete" and "Non so più," Larmore conveyed the giddy confusion of the adolescent boy. Her rich mezzo gleamed in the middle and upper reaches, though it must be said that her low notes were not as easily heard.
While the soloist regained her breath, the orchestra performed a brisk rendition of the Act 3 March from Mozart's opera seria, Idomeneo. Larmore then returned for an all-out showstopper, the scena "Eccomi alfine in Babilonia" from Rossini's Semiramide. Once again, the protagonist is a male, the young general Arsace. While this work is generally accounted one of Rossini's "serious" operas, "Eccomi alfine" is a typical coloratura piece, calling for vocal fireworks, ornamentation and roulades in the cavatina. Larmore delivered all this with impassioned bravura, garnering prolonged applause. Having left the stage with an armload of flowers, she eventually returned, provocatively caressing a single long-stemmed rose, very much a woman this time. She then delivered a teasing, mocking Habañera (from Bizet's Carmen), fondling the heads of the male violinists as she sidled amongst them, rolling her eyes heavenwards as she trilled "L'amourrr."
It is probably not true that Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 is one of the most boring pieces ever written, but that it just seems so after
its endless public exposures. Even the modern attempt to impute a homosexual
subtext does little to raise its interest level. But in this instance, Honeck
and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra did manage to extract some new life from
one of the most overworked of symphonic warhorses. The sonorities of the opening
theme contrasted sharply with the very brassy brass sections (a wayward horn in
the first movement was quickly brought under control). The lyric qualities of
the second movement were nicely rendered; the third movement was dispatched with
a minimum of saccharine; sufficient excitement was whipped up in the final
allegro vivace to tempt some of the audience into premature applause at the
false ending. For the people in the audience who liked this sort of thing, and
there seemed to be a lot of them, this was very much to their liking. For many,
however, it was definitely Jennifer Larmore's night.
