Bruckner Symphony no 7
RAM Academy Symphony Orchestra
Ryan Wrigglesworth
Dukes Hall, Royal Academy of Music
It was a real pleasure to be back at Royal Academy of Music to hear accomplished, emergent players out in force to showcase the results of their work with Ryan Wrigglesworth this week.
And Bruckner 7 was an excellent choice. Not only has it been the best known of the composer’s works since the rapturous reception it received at its Leipzig premiere in 1884, but it’s written on a grandiose scale so there’s plenty for everyone to do.
It’s a symphony full of memorable melodies and colour – hence its popularity – and after graceful negotiation of that tricky tremolo start , the Em major cello tune sang out joyously. Wrigglesworth balanced the sound nicely in the rather glorious Duke’s Hall acoustic, throughout out the challengingly long opening Allegro moderato movement with an exceptionally dramatic take on the big rallentando towards the end.
There was some sumptuously beautiful playing in the rising, soaring C# minor melody in the Andante (good tuba work) which is probably the finest movement in the symphony although it’s a hard choice. The climatic section with string arpeggios, trombones – and the famous cymbal clash – was pretty fine too.
The principal trumpet really excelled, as he or she must, in the scherzo and I admired the way Wrigglesworth controlled the manic string work and contrasted it with the gentler trio.
And finally back to E major for the finale which in this symphony doesn’t really resolve anything. This performance gave us some excellent work from the brass section in the grand marcato statements and sensitive attention to dynamic contrasts here as in the rest of the work.
Whether or not you share Bruckner’s staunch, reverential Catholicism (and I don’t) this is a profoundly inspirational work. The players were audibly inspired both by the work and by Wriggleworth. It’s also a piece which, given its length, requires a lot of stamina but of course these young players rose to the challenge with aplomb.