As the CBSO currently undertakes its longest-ever European engagement, Fellowship Conductor Alpesh Chauhan presents the fifth instalment of his tour diary.

Day 9 – Friday, March 28th (Frankurt)

The first of two concerts in Frankfurt following our three and a half hour train journey from Hamburg. As the rehearsals are seating calls only now (30 minute rehearsals) they essentially follow the same format so I have decided to cover both in one entry. The first concert consisted of the Violin Concerto from Richard Strauss’ Don Juan and Prokofiev’s Romeo & Juliet (extracts) the same pieces that the orchestra had performed in Hamburg last night. The inclusion of Don Juan in this programme makes for a long, tiring show so the players are thankful to only have seating call rehearsals for the rest of the tour. The second concert featured the Brahms 1st Piano Concerto (the last time Hélène Grimaud plays as soloist on this tour) and the Prokofiev.

The venue was Frankfurt Alte Oper. This is a huge hall and was pretty much sold out both nights. Due to the hall’s size and mainly wooden interior it was very resonant but still had a brightness which allowed details to come out. The first concert was great but the second felt a lot stronger as the orchestra were more used to the hall by then and Musical Director Andris Nelsons was therefore able to really explore extremes of the dynamic (as he so naturally, and often, does at the orchestra’s home, Symphony Hall). A highlight was the whisperingly quiet dynamics that forced the audience to remain absolutely still and was very moving, especially in the Piano Concerto and Stravinsky’s Petrouchka. The hall provided only a few balance issues, but these were easily solved in rehearsal.

The orchestra are really changing as the tour goes on. The performances continue to get even better and the performance of Petrouchka was the best yet, although this was partly as it was still quite fresh after being rested for a few nights in favour of the Prokofiev (Romeo and Juliet). Something I wait for in this piece is the moment of Tybalt’s death, where there are 15 orchestral stabs. Andris has done this very differently every time, without warning the orchestra. Of course, they know to expect exciting, live music-making with Andris and it brings an honest energy to the performance. He explained to them that he wasn’t sure whether there should be a slowing down toward the end of the stabs (which accentuates the effect of death and life slowing down to that fateful moment) or whether it should be a straight journey powering through them to the final stab.

On the morning of our second day in Frankfurt, I managed to get out on the River Main, which was cleansing and very nice. I have a love of being on boats and it was a fine day for it too!

Our Frankfurt concerts over, we are now preparing for a three hour coach to Essen: Strauss, Violin Concerto and Stravinsky tonight!

Day 10 – Saturday, March 29th (Essen)

Happy Mother’s Day to Mum halfway on a four and a half hour journey from Essen to Stuttgart!

So, last night’s concert was at the Essen Philharmonie. This, for me, is the best concert hall I have seen on the tour so far. A very modern hall, with a great acoustic. There was a brightness but the warmth was still very much there. Andris was very comfortable and felt he could ask for, and achieve, anything that he would do at Symphony Hall. The clarity was similar to Birmingham and I definitely heard layers and intricate details that are difficult to balance or hear in most halls. In particular the Don Juan, which can turn into a wash or blur of sound in the ‘wrong’ (I use that term very loosely) hall, sounded precise and exciting for hearing the intricacies of Strauss’s writing.

In rehearsal, Andris asked me to conduct the opening of Strauss and later on the quieter oboe melody to allow him to hear how both ends of the spectrum sounded in that acoustic. For conductors the Strauss is rather like the opening of Beethoven 5th, one that they can talk about until death but are often wary of! The orchestra played after my downbeat though, so once that millisecond of conductor’s exam had passed, I could relax once again!

An interesting audience member turned up today; CBSO Guest Conductor Jac van Steen, who came to watch the first half of tonight’s concert. It was great to see Jac as I have assisted him, and had some tutelage from him, in the past and we were able to have a five minute catch up.

Tomorrow we head for Stuttgart.