Staatskapelle Dresden performance a classic in every sense

Tuesday night’s Abu Dhabi Classics performance by the Staatskapelle Dresden marked their first UAE appearance since 2008.

Voted Orchestra of the Year in 2013, the Staatskapelle is led by conductor laureate Christian Thielemann, who was named Conductor of the Year by an international jury in 2011.

Staatskapelle Dresden certainly have a pedigree. Founded in 1548, they are one of the oldest orchestras in the world, and the list of distinguished former conductors includes Richard Wagner and Richard Strauss.

The concert was hailed by organisers as “the outstanding musical event of the Abu Dhabi Classics 2014-15 season” – and it’s not difficult to see why.

Even before taking to the stage, there was a definite buzz about the audience as they made their way to their seats.

The auditorium, full almost to capacity, was alight with anticipation as the lights went down and Thielmann took to the stage.

Commanding the orchestra from the podium, he struck an imposing figure: part caring father, part demanding boss. His animated performance first led a selection of strings through Strauss's Metamorphosen, Study for 23 Solo Strings.

It was played with great feeling from start to finish, starting adiago and maintaining its funereal tempo for much of the piece. Only in a handful of places did the piece pick up pace, most notably during one of the recurring melodies. The physical movement of the musicians was just as emotive as the music itself.

As the music continued, the strength and volume varied, ebbing and flowing as it continued. However, it was the great pause during the piece that left the audience unexpectedly breathless, as did the last few measures, which grew quieter until hitting a nearly inaudible pianissimo in the final two notes.

Following a short intermission, Thielmann led the entire orchestra through Anton Bruckner's Symphony No 9 in D Minor. This was to be the pièce de résistance of the evening and was noted as being "one of the most breathtaking pieces of symphonic repertoire".

The piece began quietly, yet majestically, with the brass section quickly growing in strength and volume. Throughout the first movement, the piece waxed and waned from a playful back and forth between select woodwind soloists to an all-out menacing crescendo brought on by the strings, brass and timpani.

Perhaps the most notable part was start of the second movement. The strings were divided into two sections; the first group began by plucking the melody, which was followed up by a response from the second section. It felt as though the strings had gone to war. Eventually, the entire orchestra came together in a manner resembling controlled chaos.

Throughout the remainder of the piece were moments of great foreboding brought on by the brass, followed by lighter, more fluid moments from the strings and woodwind sections.

It was, as expected, a hugely enjoyable evening – followed by another at Al Ain’s Al Jalili Fort on February 18 – and Thielmann and the Staatskapelle Dresden received a deserved standing ovation at the end.

alane@thenational.ae