RSNO, 14/10/2017
Adams : The Chairman Dances
Beethoven : Violin Concerto (James Ehnes, violin)
Sibelius : Symphony No. 2
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Edward Gardner
I don't quite know what to make of Edward Gardner. On the one hand, I've very much enjoyed his Janáček recordings with the Bergen Philharmonic, and experienced the best Peter Grimes I've ever seen, in a broadcast from ENO, in 2014. On the other, there was a correct, but uninvolving CBSO concert back in 2011. So my experiences have been rather a mixed bag, yet good enough that the benefit of the doubt is still very much in play. Tonight's concert, though, rather seemed to have filed itself alongside the CBSO one; nothing really wrong with anything, just nothing really outstanding either.
To begin with, although the sleek, sly charm of Adams's fantastical foxtrot came through, I thought Gardner set a rather bruising pace from the outset. It somewhat undermined the dreamlike atmosphere of the piece in favour of a more mechanistic approach. The shimmering texture was there from the start, but there were a couple of "gear changes" that I though were a little rough.
James Ehnes is a violinist I'm always happy to see, this was the third time in six years, but the first time in one of the real staples of the repertory. Previously, it had been the Barber, then the Nielsen concertos. His playing has a steady assurance to it, confidence without flamboyance, and the Beethoven had good nuances of dynamics, in particular. Despite that, however, the performance as a whole came across as stolid rather than inspired, comfortable and respectable, and not really stimulating.
The Sibelius set a different tone from the outset. I think this orchestra particularly likes playing Sibelius, judging from the standard of their performances almost regardless of conductor. He's a composer who featured regularly in the orchestra's programming back to the 60s and 70s when Sibelius was not at all popular, generally speaking, and has held his place ever since. There's a particular quality to the orchestral sound in this music that makes it instantly identifiable, a cool gleam to the strings, and a special sort of snarl in the brass, and it reappeared here too, immediately. In the 2nd Symphony, you hear Sibelius shaking off the last, lingering influences of the Russian school, and the beginnings of that organic compositional technique, where his musical structures seem to flower almost biologically. The slow movement was a little ponderous, but the final movement, with its great, hymn-like theme, rang out triumphantly and inspiringly.
[Next : 20th October]
Beethoven : Violin Concerto (James Ehnes, violin)
Sibelius : Symphony No. 2
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Edward Gardner
I don't quite know what to make of Edward Gardner. On the one hand, I've very much enjoyed his Janáček recordings with the Bergen Philharmonic, and experienced the best Peter Grimes I've ever seen, in a broadcast from ENO, in 2014. On the other, there was a correct, but uninvolving CBSO concert back in 2011. So my experiences have been rather a mixed bag, yet good enough that the benefit of the doubt is still very much in play. Tonight's concert, though, rather seemed to have filed itself alongside the CBSO one; nothing really wrong with anything, just nothing really outstanding either.
To begin with, although the sleek, sly charm of Adams's fantastical foxtrot came through, I thought Gardner set a rather bruising pace from the outset. It somewhat undermined the dreamlike atmosphere of the piece in favour of a more mechanistic approach. The shimmering texture was there from the start, but there were a couple of "gear changes" that I though were a little rough.
James Ehnes is a violinist I'm always happy to see, this was the third time in six years, but the first time in one of the real staples of the repertory. Previously, it had been the Barber, then the Nielsen concertos. His playing has a steady assurance to it, confidence without flamboyance, and the Beethoven had good nuances of dynamics, in particular. Despite that, however, the performance as a whole came across as stolid rather than inspired, comfortable and respectable, and not really stimulating.
The Sibelius set a different tone from the outset. I think this orchestra particularly likes playing Sibelius, judging from the standard of their performances almost regardless of conductor. He's a composer who featured regularly in the orchestra's programming back to the 60s and 70s when Sibelius was not at all popular, generally speaking, and has held his place ever since. There's a particular quality to the orchestral sound in this music that makes it instantly identifiable, a cool gleam to the strings, and a special sort of snarl in the brass, and it reappeared here too, immediately. In the 2nd Symphony, you hear Sibelius shaking off the last, lingering influences of the Russian school, and the beginnings of that organic compositional technique, where his musical structures seem to flower almost biologically. The slow movement was a little ponderous, but the final movement, with its great, hymn-like theme, rang out triumphantly and inspiringly.
[Next : 20th October]