Supporting the Arts in Western Massachusetts and Beyond

March 25, 2014

Enigma Variations


Hartford Symphony Orchestra, Hartford, CT
March 20–23, 2014
by Michael J. Moran

Guest conductor Michael Lankester was warmly welcomed to the Bushnell’s Belding Theater for a program that played to many of the strengths he demonstrated as HSO Music Director (1985-2000): an English symphonic favorite; and a lesser-known Bruckner symphony.

Michael Lankester
The concert opened with a deeply felt account of Sir Edward Elgar’s masterpiece, formally titled Variations on an Original Theme, “Enigma,” but usually called simply the Enigma Variations. Following a stately opening theme, each of the fourteen variations depicts a friend or family member of the composer, varying widely in pace and mood, from the tender first variation on Elgar’s wife, Alice, to the “Presto” seventh variation on a high-spirited friend, to the noble ninth variation (“Nimrod”), a tribute to Elgar’s publisher, which is often played separately as an elegy. 

Though some of Lankester’s tempos were daringly slow, all sections of the orchestra did themselves proud in this loving rendition of a work by a fellow Englishman that sounded very close to the conductor’s heart.

None of Anton Bruckner’s nine symphonies are programmed very often, perhaps because of their enormous length, but the third appears less in concert than the more familiar fourth, seventh, and ninth. So hats off to Lankester for leading a monumental performance of the 67-minute piece after intermission. Bruckner was a church organist for many years in his native Austria, and the symphony’s huge sonorities resonated much like an organ in the ample but intimate Belding acoustics.

With spacious tempos in all four movements, Lankester emphasized its majestic grandeur, which evokes for many listeners the high peaks and deep valleys of the Austrian Alps. The HSO brass made a glorious choir in the symphony’s blazing climaxes, while the woodwinds played many softer passages with contrasting delicacy.
   
During his tenure as HSO Music Director, Lankester showed a special feeling for the English repertoire, with memorable local premieres of contemporary works by John Taverner and Michael Tippett, as well as for large-scale pieces like Mahler’s eighth symphony. Both strengths were well served by this Elgar/Bruckner program, and much of the audience seemed anxious for a return engagement soon.