Page 292 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds in D minor opened the programme. The composer had
recently heard Mozart’s Gran Partita and this Serenade was for a very similar line-up of
performers: 11 winds plus cello and double bass. The piece looks back to the time of
Mozart with a classical elegance, but the exuberance of Czech folk music is never far away.
The acoustics of the Tung Auditorium ensured that each individual contribution was crystal
clear and we heard some very fine chamber music playing. In the second and fourth
movements in particular the easy-going humour of the piece came to the fore. If I had to
highlight one player it would be clarinettist Miquel Ramos who appeared to be leading the
band and enjoying every minute.

The second piece was by the rarely-played Paul Hindemith. Kammermusik no. 5 dates from
1925 and is a concerto for viola and large chamber orchestra. Hindemith himself was a
viola player and his love for his instrument shines through in this demanding concerto. The
soloist was Nicholas Bootiman, the RLPO’s joint Principal Viola. The orchestra added a
brass complement to the woodwinds from the Dvořák (but with only two horns) and some
strings: four cellos and four double basses but no violas or violins, giving a unique sound.
Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos were a model for Hindemith and this was evident especially
in the first movement which had a distinct neo-Baroque feel. Bootiman had scarcely a
moment’s pause in this energetic, driven music. If the first movement brought Stravinsky to
mind, the second was more lyrical and expressive, even expressionistic; perhaps we were
in the world of Verklärte Nacht.

Bootiman had more opportunity than in the first movement to communicate directly with the
audience in his solos. In the third we had some remarkable contrasts between winds and
strings. The finale is a dislocated military march where the viola sometimes seemed at odds
with the orchestra. And then it stopped, all too abruptly. I was mesmerised by Bootiman’s
stunning playing in this unfamiliar music. More Hindemith please!

The second half of the concert was taken up by Brahms’ Serenade no. 2 in A major, a
relatively early work preceding all of his symphonies and one of Brahms’ sunniest
compositions. Here the orchestra comprised woodwinds, two horns but no other brass, four
double basses, four cellos and, for the first time in the evening, four violas. The central slow
movement was the serious, dramatic heart of the piece and was played with great intensity,
but the predominant mood was light-hearted and good-humoured. The fun culminated in
the final Rondo where a piccolo brightened the tone and the piece was brought to a warm-
hearted conclusion.

Thanks to an unfamiliar focus on the woodwinds, a new venue and a fine performance of
an intriguing concerto, this was a refreshingly unusual and thoroughly enjoyable concert.