Remembrance- 8/11/2014- RLPO

★★★☆☆

Yan Pascal Tortelier conductor
Daniel Müller-Schott cello
Christopher Purves baritone
Caroline MacPhie soprano
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir
Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral Cantata Choir

For their first concert of the season, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and choir performed: Strauss Death and Transfiguration, Elgar Cello Concerto and Fauré Requiem Mass; in the Metropolitan Cathedral alongside the cathedral's choir, under the baton of Yan Pascal Tortelier.

The first half of the concert started with the bold Death and Transfiguration by Richard Strauss. It is a very typical Strauss piece and is arguably one of his best works. The acoustics in the cavernous Metropolitan Cathedral suited the brash, loud and mighty piece- the echoes created in such an environment definitely added an interesting and complementary effect to the Strauss. Yan Pascal Tortelier was on form, conducting passionately, gesticulating wildly at times and adding a certain character to this piece. The orchestra itself seemed to be a bit brass- heavy from where I was sat- but being Strauss that didn't really matter! 

After such a tremendous performance of the Strauss it must be said that the Elgar Cello Concerto was slightly disappointing. Müller-Schott was undoubtedly a good cellist but by no means first class. His performance was void of emotion and passion and the sound wasn't as clean as I may have hoped. This did have something to do with the acoustics in the cathedral, which definitely did not suit the concerto- the echo irritatingly obscured much of the piece. The cathedral wasn't the best venue for the concert in my opinion not only in terms of the sound but also in terms of the logistics of the performance. The orchestra seemed cramped and the soloist and conductor had to trek right from the back to the stage in the middle of the cathedral to take their bows! 

The Fauré Requiem Mass was also slightly underwhelming. It had its moments but the orchestra, soloists and choir seemed tired and uninterested. Poor Tortelier was still as energetic as ever though, trying ever so hard to gee up the musicians! The soloists yet again were technically sound but darest I say it, boring! The sound was lost quickly into the atmosphere and the echoes became genuinely unbearable. The Fauré was rather sadly nondescript. It lacked character and emotion- a main criticism of the concert on the whole. 

Boring interpretations from the orchestra despite the conductor's obvious enthusiasm. The acoustics sadly made much of the concert unbearable to listen to.