The Wykehamist The Concerto Concert
We love you Austin
Perched on a podium surrounded by the school’ s Chamber Orchestra and wind players from the Guildhall School of Music Drama, Austin Lam( G, 2021-) began the annual Concerto Concert with Tchaikovsky’ s Nocturne from his Six Pieces for Piano, Op. 19, arranged for cello and strings by the composer himself. Having won the school’ s Concerto Competition last year, this was Austin’ s opportunity to finally play in front of the school. Following a performance of Shostakovich earlier in the week in Southampton, Austin certainly did not fail to deliver yet another spectacular concert. Starting off with a delicate and sentimental andante that was conducted by RLB from his trusty piano stool – certainly quite an effective technique that should be finding its way into professional orchestras soon – the Nocturne was but an hors d’ oeuvres for the tour de force to come.
The Variations on a Rococo Theme, Op. 33 was the closest Tchaikovsky ever came to writing a concerto for cello and full orchestra, known for its prolonged virtuosic passages for the soloist in exchange for a few orchestral tuttis. Dedicatee and German cellist William Fitzenhagen later reshuffled the order of the variations, creating the version usually performed today, as it was tonight. A beautiful and poised horn solo segued into the simple yet elegant theme, which then smoothly transitioned to the first variation.
Lively triplet passages were delicately-handled by Austin, and despite a tricky tempo change that nearly doubled the speed, the second variation took off with much precision. Guildhall’ s wind players lent their mastery to the exceptionally rich orchestral texture, while the school’ s Chamber Orchestra still managed to hold their ground despite being vastly outnumbered( only 2 violas and 2 cellos – that’ s as many cellos as there were horns!). Even throughout a flashy cadenza and tricky runs that bordered on the impossible, Austin still extremely impressively maintained a light-hearted,“ rococo” tone.
Variations VII and V( as per Tchaikovsky’ s original ordering) then followed, a heavenly woodwind climax linking the two as the meditative became playful. A series of trills in thumb position( in
28 other words, extremely high up!) by Austin transitioned to possibly the best variation of all, the charming sixth, as what could otherwise have been a boring episode was presented as an endearing dialogue between the sections of the orchestra. Beautiful solo passages by not only Austin but also the winds( some especially graceful flute playing here) encapsulated enormous musicality, with the added delight of tricky runs and some incredible harmonics, not to mention an absolutely breathtaking cadenza that featured powerful chords and delicate pizzicato alike.
A solemn third variation was then followed by a lengthy dramatic pause, and with every breath in New Hall being held, finally erupted into the extravagant romp of Variation IV. Taking off at blazing speed, it was a wonder that the flute player managed to keep up with Austin, as some of the most impressive virtuosity ever to grace the College was put on display. The coda showed off some more of his fiery arpeggios and almostinhuman double stops, and the final chords cemented a dramatically glorious end to the piece. As three consecutive standing ovations followed, the only question begged was: how many more ovations would there have been if Austin had been allowed to go ahead with his original pick of Shostakovich’ s Concerto No. 2?
However, of course, the concert was only halfway done. The Chamber Orchestra now presented Shostakovich’ s harrowing String Quartet No. 8, transcribed for string orchestra by Rudolf Barshai. Having just performed the Quartet on Thursday the week before in a chamber concert, the new version was only more confident and brutal, leaning harder into an interpretation that emphasised accented precision and savagery.
For example, the second movement was performed with a solid determined grit, benefiting much from the controlled tempo despite the marked Molto Allegro. Every single note filled the hall with violent ferocity, including the two-man viola solos. The sweeping majesty of the second theme was further enhanced by the furiously stampedout arpeggios and extremely deliberate accents.
Following a sudden pp drop, the climax of the piece was reached as the celli took over the gut-wrenching melody,