A Revelation (Sophia Jaffé and the PRSO in Passau)

The first Saturday of the festival at the Studienkirche church in Passau produced a revelation in the form of a concert by Sophie Jaffé and the Prague Radio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leoš Svárovský. This goes for the soloist, who at such a young age is able to perform Max Bruch’s first violin concerto with such maturity! It goes for the orchestra, whose members manage to fuse their soulfulness and assurance in such an entrancing style! And it goes for the conductor, who succeeds in inspiring both sides to create such an experience!

The overture to Verdi’s “Sicilian Vespers” is entrancing, representing impulsive poetic power in sound. It shows Svárovský’s exceptional talent as a dramaturge and the devotion with which the musicians follow every indicated nuance: the accent of the cymbals splinters on the tip of his index finger, his palm absorbs the call of the horns, the melody of the cello envelops like a garland his baton, which can within seconds turn a pianissimo from tenderly bitter to bitterly tender, and back again.

In those circumstances, Brahms’ Fourth becomes an experience which one would love to burn on to CD while listening: the first movement with its filigree structure full of light and passion, the andante in a dance mood with appropriate depth, the closing movement with thirty variations like an enormous adventure story. And all of this with great feeling.

That would of course have been the highlight of the concert, were it not for the magical powers of Sophie Jaffé. The thoroughly absorbing music flows as an overall whole, without the slightest cracks in tension. We do not hear the changes of position or the arrival of the strings, difficult double-stops are not accompanied by disturbing crackles, the intonation does not fluctuate. It is as if the virtuoso were a filter allowing only unclouded music through. Just as completely pure and intoxifying as the sound of the violin soloing which is heard in almost incredible interpretative accuracy throughout the entire violin concerto – while under instruction from conductor Svárovský tone after tone empties into the most resonant of bodies there is: the heart.