European Concert 1998Berliner Philharmoniker
Claudio Abbado, Conductor
Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson Choir
Vasa Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra lays claim to being at the summit of all symphonic ensembles in the world, and with good reason. A succession of legendary greats in its podium such as Bulow, Nikisch, Furtwangler and Karajan have allowed it to reach this stature. It shares the summit with the highly controversial but equally eminent Vienna Philharmonic, which during the war time years, had six of its players sent to Nazi concentration camps.
Since 1990, the orchestra has embarked on an annual concert tour in Europe's cultural capitals. For 1998, the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden was the venue for the grand event, with a fully-restored mammoth Viking ship as a stunning background.
What makes the concert extraordinary is the intelligent and carefully-selected programming. With the huge Viking ship as the centre piece of the museum, the repertoire tackles the theme akin to embarking on a great journey, perhaps to an unexplored world and uninhabited places, much like what the early Viking explorers did.
Under the baton of Claudio Abaddo, the Berlin Philharmonic opened with Richard Wagner's Overture to The Flying Dutchman, followed by Tchaikovsky's Symphonic Fantasia Op. 18 ("The Tempest"), Debussy's Trois Nocturnes, and finally Verdi's Quattro Pezzi Sacri (Four Sacred Pieces).
The Wagner overture (1843) immediately asserted the main theme of the concert, as this symphonic poem seem to suggest images of preparation for a long journey. (The legend of the Flying Dutchman received a recent revival through the Johnny Depp-starrer, Pirates of the Carribean.) Wagner's opera tells of a Dutchman who is condemned to live at sea under the terms of a curse; his only chance of release lies in the fidelity of a woman.
Hard tremolos and rustling from the strings, as well as shrill woodwinds and the stormy and wild chromaticism of the basses paint a turbulent sea as the howling storm in the full orchestra spends itself and runs down. A delicate statement of the "release motif" attempts to asserts itself amidst the turmoil before it is drowned again in the excited waves of the strings and the curse motif dominate once again. However, the "release" motif wins out and ends the work on a note of promise.
The Tchaikovsky Symphonic Fantasia extends the turbulence and stormy motif, with even greater intensity and excitement. Like in Wagner, various motifs attempt to break out amidst the frenzied rhythms of the storm: frustration, longing and even homesickness before being drowned out in the howling storm and turbulent sea. I kept on imagining being on a ship bound for the netherworld while listening to this number. In fact, this piece would be perfect for Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
A strange and exotic world, almost like a parallel universe, greets one with Debussy's fantastic Trois Nocturnes. A perfect example of French impressionism, one is transported to a world beyond our imagination. As a child, I used to read King Solomon's Mines: somewhere near Mt. Kilimanjaro, a secluded and totally different world exists, and listening to Debussy brings me back to the pages of that great adventure novel. Debussy utilizes an all-female chorus but treats them instrumentally, skillfully weaving the voices as if it were part of the orchestra, not above from it. Which makes the experience even more eerie, it's as if something even stranger and different is in store for the listener.
Indeed, the stormy journey depicted in Wagner and Tchaikovskly, passing through an exotic and lush world in Debussy, ends in the sacred world of Verdi. A contrapuntal Ave Maria a capella between the male and female choruses establishes immediately that the listener is entering sacred ground. Almost like Verdi's Manzoni Requiem, chorus and orchestra combine for an urgent appeal for deliverance. An all female chorus number, again in a capella format, seems to suggest a choir of angels. All vocal and orchestral forces combine to declare in the final number that the Journey, in fact ends here, with God.
Abaddo is a master colorist, and I couldn't be happier. Arguably the best orchestra in the world, the Berlin Philharmonic sizzles. It is a joy listening to this world-class ensemble.
Swedish Radio Choir, Eric Ericson Choir
Vasa Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra lays claim to being at the summit of all symphonic ensembles in the world, and with good reason. A succession of legendary greats in its podium such as Bulow, Nikisch, Furtwangler and Karajan have allowed it to reach this stature. It shares the summit with the highly controversial but equally eminent Vienna Philharmonic, which during the war time years, had six of its players sent to Nazi concentration camps.
Since 1990, the orchestra has embarked on an annual concert tour in Europe's cultural capitals. For 1998, the Vasa Museum in Stockholm, Sweden was the venue for the grand event, with a fully-restored mammoth Viking ship as a stunning background.
What makes the concert extraordinary is the intelligent and carefully-selected programming. With the huge Viking ship as the centre piece of the museum, the repertoire tackles the theme akin to embarking on a great journey, perhaps to an unexplored world and uninhabited places, much like what the early Viking explorers did.
Under the baton of Claudio Abaddo, the Berlin Philharmonic opened with Richard Wagner's Overture to The Flying Dutchman, followed by Tchaikovsky's Symphonic Fantasia Op. 18 ("The Tempest"), Debussy's Trois Nocturnes, and finally Verdi's Quattro Pezzi Sacri (Four Sacred Pieces).
The Wagner overture (1843) immediately asserted the main theme of the concert, as this symphonic poem seem to suggest images of preparation for a long journey. (The legend of the Flying Dutchman received a recent revival through the Johnny Depp-starrer, Pirates of the Carribean.) Wagner's opera tells of a Dutchman who is condemned to live at sea under the terms of a curse; his only chance of release lies in the fidelity of a woman.
Hard tremolos and rustling from the strings, as well as shrill woodwinds and the stormy and wild chromaticism of the basses paint a turbulent sea as the howling storm in the full orchestra spends itself and runs down. A delicate statement of the "release motif" attempts to asserts itself amidst the turmoil before it is drowned again in the excited waves of the strings and the curse motif dominate once again. However, the "release" motif wins out and ends the work on a note of promise.
The Tchaikovsky Symphonic Fantasia extends the turbulence and stormy motif, with even greater intensity and excitement. Like in Wagner, various motifs attempt to break out amidst the frenzied rhythms of the storm: frustration, longing and even homesickness before being drowned out in the howling storm and turbulent sea. I kept on imagining being on a ship bound for the netherworld while listening to this number. In fact, this piece would be perfect for Tolkien's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
A strange and exotic world, almost like a parallel universe, greets one with Debussy's fantastic Trois Nocturnes. A perfect example of French impressionism, one is transported to a world beyond our imagination. As a child, I used to read King Solomon's Mines: somewhere near Mt. Kilimanjaro, a secluded and totally different world exists, and listening to Debussy brings me back to the pages of that great adventure novel. Debussy utilizes an all-female chorus but treats them instrumentally, skillfully weaving the voices as if it were part of the orchestra, not above from it. Which makes the experience even more eerie, it's as if something even stranger and different is in store for the listener.
Indeed, the stormy journey depicted in Wagner and Tchaikovskly, passing through an exotic and lush world in Debussy, ends in the sacred world of Verdi. A contrapuntal Ave Maria a capella between the male and female choruses establishes immediately that the listener is entering sacred ground. Almost like Verdi's Manzoni Requiem, chorus and orchestra combine for an urgent appeal for deliverance. An all female chorus number, again in a capella format, seems to suggest a choir of angels. All vocal and orchestral forces combine to declare in the final number that the Journey, in fact ends here, with God.
Abaddo is a master colorist, and I couldn't be happier. Arguably the best orchestra in the world, the Berlin Philharmonic sizzles. It is a joy listening to this world-class ensemble.
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