Still only 23 years of age, violin soloist Elizabeth Basoff-Darskaia is yet another in an ever growing procession of accomplished millennial musicians who will be vying for the limelight in coming decades. Accompanied by the recently renamed Royal Bangkok Symphony Orchestra and returning Dutch conductor Wim Steinmann, she worked her way assuredly through Antonio Vivaldi's The Four Seasons last Wednesday, Feb 15, in the Small Hall of the Thailand Cultural Centre, and one was taken over by the well-honed artistry and reliable technique, which are always undeniably there, but what is it about the character and personality of this particular player that can possibly set them apart from the legions who are likewise joining the concerto circuit wide-eyed and hungry? Especially in this work -- among the most recorded and continually performed of all Baroque masterpieces?
Playing on a fine, sweet-toned 1770 instrument by Anselmo Bellosio, Basoff-Darskaia's articulation in the numerous filigree passage-work sections that punctuate these four concerti displayed admirable clarity, opening with lightening-fast left/right string-crossing triplet co-ordination for Spring's evocation of thunder, and finishing some 40 minutes later with even more ambitiously- paced demisemiquaver scales that evoke ice chill for Winter. To hear an absolute crystalline distinction between all of the perfectly tuned notes here -- at the end of what is after all a rather long play through not only one concerto -- is pleasing indeed, indicating a cool stamina coupled with an easily controlled mechanics of body and mind.
The violin playing style was of course purely contemporary, with no concessions here to Baroque performance practice, reflecting her long list of renowned teachers, which includes Ruggiero Ricci, Aaron Rosand and currently Barbara Gorzynska in Vienna, where Basoff-Darskaia now resides. Her vibrato is therefore always wide and lush, notably in her ravishingly beautiful reading of the famous Largo From Winter: " … next to the fire hearth, away from the freeze of the outdoors … " While some soloists make their own mark in this and the other slow movements with added ornamentation, sometimes improvised, she chose to play this heartwarming tune straight, and indeed its emotional simplicity does seem to communicate itself more directly and effectively this way.
Meanwhile, a very small number of slight deviations from expected norms could be argued in favour of her own subtle stamp on the warhorse. In the stormy Presto Of Summer she altered one double-stopped chord of B-flat to E-flat (fleeting but noticeable), while for the forceful tutti depiction of "stamping feet" in Winter she opted to articulate some semiquavers tenuto, as opposed to the usual spiccato. Always an acid test of intonation, the challenging double-stopped F-major thirds and sixths of Autumn were dispatched well by Basoff-Darskaia -- almost perfectly in tune. All in all, certainly a fresh young talent to take note of and watch out for.
Conductor Wim Steinmann had opened the concert with a brief (yet captivating and earnest) piece for strings and harpsichord by the same composer. Once a rarity, Vivaldi's Sinfonia Al Santo Sepolcro is becoming better known by audiences, its chromatic dissonance extremely expressive and suggestive of the sufferings of Christ. Indeed, it's a brave move to start the performance with such a hushed yet intense atmosphere, but the RBSO strings played tightly as a unit and conveyed the message of this highly charged gem very well.
Also full of impassioned string playing was Variations And Fugue On A Theme By Johann Kuhnau by a former close acquaintance and compatriot of the conductor, the great and prolific modern composer and organist Hendrik Andriessen. Although a rarity outside of Holland itself, the then-BSO did in fact perform this work once before, 21 years ago at the Sukhothai Hotel Ballroom. Baroque composer Kuhnau's A-minor theme is simplicity itself, but through six suitably contrasting treatments of it, Andriessen gives the ensemble plenty of room to demonstrate the variety of tone colours available to a string group, and the RBSO revelled in this opportunity. Variation four might depict the vast vistas of distant space and time with its almost ametric unfolding of extended lines, whereas the final fugue is rooted in a metronomic 3/8 time with no room for rubato. The many exposed section entries were managed cleanly, with the rousing Tierce de Picardie-style cadence in A major bringing loud applause from the full TCC hall.
To round off this enjoyable evening, Steinmann brought both vigour and humour to Beethoven's Symphony No. 1 In C-Major Opus 21. It was indeed a pleasure to see (and hear) the two violin sections equally balanced, with four desks of each sitting on opposite sides of the stage. The symmetry of structure which runs through all such music can thus unfold nicely when, for example, the second violin entry of the Andante cantabile passes seamlessly to other sections. Also wise in this movement was Steinmann's choice of a lively tempo, taking heed of con motto so as to avoid any overindulgence.
Over in the brass department, it was thrilling to observe the use of a Yamaha C Rotary trumpet, noted for its production of a Germanic timbre, and special mention should also be made of the first violins for their confident solo opening of the scintillating Finale -- never an easily negotiated juncture.
Overall, an excellent start to the 2017 season, with the happy expectation of more fine music-making in the coming months.
