RSNO, 03/11/2018
Dukas : The Sorceror's Apprentice
Chopin : Piano Concerto No. 2 (Benjamin Grosvenor, piano)
Rachmaninoff : Symphonic Dances
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Elim Chan
Tonight's concert (more accurately, this week's three concerts, in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow) marked the commencement of Elim Chan's role as Principal Guest Conductor with the RSNO. She presents a slight but energetic figure on the podium - maybe a shade too energetic for the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, because she has a tendency to stamp on the podium for emphasis, and in this hall, the reverberations from that stamping carry quite some distance back into the stalls! Still, it's the results that matter, and the results here were pretty convincing, beginning with a glittering rendition of Dukas's orchestral scherzo, delivered with plenty of verve and taken, when appropriate, at a cracking pace.
For the Chopin concerto, the orchestra takes a back seat, sympathetic and efficient support, like the premier danseur in classical ballet, while the piano occupies the foreground from start to finish. When Benjamin Grosvenor first appeared on the BBC Young Musician competition, it was impossible to miss the quality of his playing, but he was only eleven at the time (the judges tend to prefer winners to be a bit older), and 2004 was Nicola Benedetti's year. Nevertheless, nobody could have doubted that we would be hearing from Grosvenor again in due course, and his career has bloomed spectacularly in recent years. The concerto is relatively early Chopin, and was intended to showcase Chopin both as composer and as virtuoso pianist, but Grosvenor approaches it as if it was one of Chopin's more mature compositions, with a kind of expansive gravitas and filigree ornamentation. I would have liked a little more snap to the final rondo - and that goes for the orchestra too - but this was a beautifully judged performance, full of bel canto grace, limpidity of tone, and clarity of articulation.
The real gem of the evening, however, was Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. This was music that clearly meant a great deal to Chan, and she drew a performance of vivid concentration and intensity from the orchestra. The very opening seemed just a touch rough around the edges, but then came that soulful saxophone solo, picked up by gorgeously melting strings, and it never looked back from there. The lilt of the waltz in the second movement was irresistible, while the brass provided suitably eerie fanfares, while the last movement was a veritable Dance of Death, the odd, off-centre, stamping rhythms and explorations of the Dies irae theme interspersed with sadder, lyrical episodes, all delivered with pinpoint precision, and great flexibility of both mood and tempo, while never losing hold of our attention right up to that final tam-tam stroke. Anyone who reads my blog regularly will have realised that I'm particularly fond of the Symphonic Dances, and this was perhaps the best performance I've heard in Glasgow to date.
[Next : 4th November]
Chopin : Piano Concerto No. 2 (Benjamin Grosvenor, piano)
Rachmaninoff : Symphonic Dances
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Elim Chan
Tonight's concert (more accurately, this week's three concerts, in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow) marked the commencement of Elim Chan's role as Principal Guest Conductor with the RSNO. She presents a slight but energetic figure on the podium - maybe a shade too energetic for the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, because she has a tendency to stamp on the podium for emphasis, and in this hall, the reverberations from that stamping carry quite some distance back into the stalls! Still, it's the results that matter, and the results here were pretty convincing, beginning with a glittering rendition of Dukas's orchestral scherzo, delivered with plenty of verve and taken, when appropriate, at a cracking pace.
For the Chopin concerto, the orchestra takes a back seat, sympathetic and efficient support, like the premier danseur in classical ballet, while the piano occupies the foreground from start to finish. When Benjamin Grosvenor first appeared on the BBC Young Musician competition, it was impossible to miss the quality of his playing, but he was only eleven at the time (the judges tend to prefer winners to be a bit older), and 2004 was Nicola Benedetti's year. Nevertheless, nobody could have doubted that we would be hearing from Grosvenor again in due course, and his career has bloomed spectacularly in recent years. The concerto is relatively early Chopin, and was intended to showcase Chopin both as composer and as virtuoso pianist, but Grosvenor approaches it as if it was one of Chopin's more mature compositions, with a kind of expansive gravitas and filigree ornamentation. I would have liked a little more snap to the final rondo - and that goes for the orchestra too - but this was a beautifully judged performance, full of bel canto grace, limpidity of tone, and clarity of articulation.
The real gem of the evening, however, was Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. This was music that clearly meant a great deal to Chan, and she drew a performance of vivid concentration and intensity from the orchestra. The very opening seemed just a touch rough around the edges, but then came that soulful saxophone solo, picked up by gorgeously melting strings, and it never looked back from there. The lilt of the waltz in the second movement was irresistible, while the brass provided suitably eerie fanfares, while the last movement was a veritable Dance of Death, the odd, off-centre, stamping rhythms and explorations of the Dies irae theme interspersed with sadder, lyrical episodes, all delivered with pinpoint precision, and great flexibility of both mood and tempo, while never losing hold of our attention right up to that final tam-tam stroke. Anyone who reads my blog regularly will have realised that I'm particularly fond of the Symphonic Dances, and this was perhaps the best performance I've heard in Glasgow to date.
[Next : 4th November]