In harmony with the direction of David Bösch, which seeks what may capture the attention of a modern audience, conductor Péter Halász strives to invoke music that actually says something. Going beyond mere superficiality, the accustomed gestures and empty perfection, Halász stresses the score’s gravity and nobility. Rather than being bombastic, even the overture is subtle and eloquent.
Péter Halász’s admirable conducting rewarded our full attention even while the curtains were still closed during the overture, facilitating the audience’s attunement to the work from the very outset. Leading the orchestra at a suitably strict tempo, Halász conjured up the kind of heady sound that, thanks to renovated Opera House’s auspicious acoustics, we have come to expect from performances of Wagner.
In this brilliant performance, the orchestra, led by a great conductor, produces an aural texture that perfectly highlights the emotional depths of Dvorák’s score. Indeed, the music itself becomes a character, guiding the audience through the vicissitudes of the emotions of Rusalka herself.
The Düsseldorfer Symphoniker never confuse pomp with bombast. The mighty sounds that unfold under the direction of Péter Halász are sometimes regal and sometimes tempestuous, but they always keep sabre-rattling pathos at arm’s length. Instead, the musical language balances between the great Western and Russian models. The solo scenes and ensembles are accompanied with care and restraint. The harp, the flutes and the organ escort us to heaven. And when Joan of Arc tenderly bids farewell to her dead lover, the compassionate final farewell is close to the music of Die Walküre.
What we hear from the Düsseldorfer Symphoniker under the direction of Péter Halász amazes us again and again. It possesses a finely-honed virtuosity, while at the same time it never overpowers the strong, yet nuanced voice parts.