STRAVINSKY’S DIAGHILEV BALLETS
Kimichi Symphony Orchestra at Symphony Hall *****
If this feat has ever been accomplished before, then I’ve never heard of it. To perform any one of Stravinsky’s first three great Diaghilev ballets – Firebird, Petrushka, Rite of Spring – is a tour de force for any professional orchestra. To perform all three in one programme, and by a part-time orchestra of semi-professionals seems to be flying dangerously close to the sun or the wind.
And the result was a triumphant return to earth after spreading glory. The Kimichi Symphony Orchestra, one hundred strong, gave more than impressive accounts of these taxing scores, demanding both technically and physically, under the supremely calm, reliable and reassuring baton of Keith Slade.
What is their secret, one might ask? The answers are brilliantly obvious: an inspirational conductor with a flawless stick-technique; enthusiastically motivated players devoted to their instruments; tight, efficient, rewarding rehearsing. Add to that an amazingly committed and resourceful backup team, and the result is a triumph which drew a standing ovation from a packed Symphony Hall on Sunday afternoon.
But there was further icing on the cake, choreography from Cici Howells which built from young amateur dancers a real narrative strength to complement the power of the music. Particularly impressive were Aidan Cooney as the hapless Petrushka (a pity that political correctness robbed us of the bogey-man Moor as his rival for the Doll’s love), and Felicity Eades as the sacrificial victim in the Rite of Spring, waiting so still and so patiently before eventually dancing herself to death.
Slade conjured a continuous sense of rhythmic progression from his players, not only in the notorious aggressive outbursts, but also in the reflective, withdrawn passages. His ability to control the sustained, sinister eeriness in Firebird was particularly impressive, and his aplomb in the fiendish complexities which end the Rite of Spring was superb.
Stravinsky’s instrumentation in these scores is a brantub of delights, including Wagner tubas, piccolo and bass trumpets, alto flute, and no fewer than three harps, as well as a huge array of percussion. How Kimichi managed to source such a panoply is another example of the enterprise’s magical Midas touch.
And all of this was achieved with no sponsorship whatsoever. The players willingly gave their services, and some even donated tickets to swell the coffers from audience-takings. The magnificent programme-book, treasurable as a souvenir of this tremendous occasion, must have cost a bit to produce. In Kimichi Birmingham and the wider West Midlands have a precious jewel. Anyone who cares about the arts must ensure it continues to thrive.
Christopher Morley