<<  -- 5 --  Tess Crebbin    BEAUTY AND TRAGEDY

Benjamin Hudson, the solo violinist in the Haydn concerto that opened the evening, splendidly carried forward the tragic final interplay between violins and cellos. An American like the conductor, Hudson plays with sensitivity and intuition. Spectacular is Dennis Russell Davies' emotional and graceful style: at one stage, he conducts his violins in the final movement with clenched fist, an overt accusation against oppressors anywhere on behalf of the War Dead: you have killed us.

Just like Lutoslawski in his funeral music, or Dvorák in the Stabat Mater, Shostakovich evokes someone taking their final breath: life fading but, unlike the other composers mentioned, there is no hope even for heaven. Heaven does not come into it, only despair as another life is lost and breath slowly fades toward its final exhalation. These excruciating final breaths the conductor extorts from his orchestra with ballet-like movements, tilting his torso back as though dragging them out of the instruments. The last note played, we were left sitting there with uneasy goose-bumps, all of us.

Dennis Russell Davies was showered with applause, bravos, and calls for encores. His unconventional and highly individualist style may be forgiven, as well as his occasional overriding of the composers' instructions. Whatever he does, it works to evoke not only the bleak landscape of Russia but also the bleak landscape of man's inhumanity. Hard to take, emotionally, even at the best of times when it comes with a vigorous scherzo and warm tones that somehow override the personally and universally tragic theme of the work, Dennis Russell Davies's highly emotional interpretation turns the Chamber Symphony into a permanent reminder of our duty to keep the peace.