The National Philharmonic Orchestra of Russia performed the sacred music of the Romantics

classical concert

The next subscription concert “Great Cantatas and Oratorios. An Anthology of the Genre” took place in the Svetlanov Hall of the Moscow International House of Music. Vladimir Simkin conducted works by Fauré and Rossini. In the hall, especially for Kommersant, MIKHAIL FICHTENGOLTS was diligently cheerful.

The sacred music of the Romantics in general and the canonical works of Gabriel Fauré and Gioachino Rossini in particular is a rather slippery and unpleasant topic for musicians. What to do if the cold Latin of the Catholic Mass is richly moistened with sentimental operatic tears, the majority of even the most venerable conductors do not know and therefore resolutely withdraw themselves from performing this layer of the Romantic heritage. Those who managed to make a name for themselves in the sacred music of the 19th century can be counted on one hand - Riccardo Muti, who at one time was fond of the liturgical opuses of Cherubini, who risked performing romantics with sinew strings and weightless-pure “baroque” voices, Roger Norrington and Philip Herrweg, yes and, perhaps, that's all. Well, if you try harder, you can also remember Evgeniy Svetlanov, who conducted Liszt’s oratorio “Christ” in the last year of his life.

In such a complex context, the choice of Vladimir Simkin, the conductor traditionally of the “second position” in Spivakov’s NPR, remained a mystery - the maestro (with all due respect) has neither charisma nor extensive historical knowledge about this music, which requires very careful handling and an unusual perspective. Rossini's vital lightness and restrained sorrow in the Catholic sequence of Stabat Mater, like the mystical bliss of Fauré's "Requiem" woven from spicy harmonies, are unknown to him: he leads the orchestra and choir at an elastic, uniform tempo, as if in his score there is no text about the fiery Gehenna awaiting sinners and the Mother of God mourning at the crucifixion, and a weather forecast with a column of numbers.

Such a formal approach is all the more offensive since the best Moscow instrumental and vocal forces were thrown into this program: the National Philharmonic firmly holds the high bar, the Moscow Chamber Choir of Vladimir Minin is not far behind, the soloists are neat and sometimes simply excellent (Albina Shagimuratova is especially memorable and Maxim Mironov - a real Rossini tenore di grazia). To be fair, it should be said that the conductor cannot be reproached for bad taste or gag - he is so indifferent to what is happening that the result of his work is inversely proportional to the original purpose of the subscription - to revive undeservedly forgotten music for the public. And leaving the concert hall, you involuntarily ask the question: maybe they were deservedly forgotten after all?

Weather forecast for Gehenna fire