SCO, 26/02/2022

Debussy : Prélude à L'après-midi d'un Faune

Saint-Saëns : Cello Concerto No. 1 (Steven Isserlis, cello)

Françaix : Dixtuor

Bartók : Divertimento for Strings

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Maxim Emelyanychev

I'm used to hearing Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un Faune for rather larger forces than on stage tonight.  I think most of the wind required was present, it's probably not practical to do without, if you're not using a transcription, and the two harps were certainly there, but the body of strings was less than in a full symphony orchestra.  This faun was certainly feeling very sleepy indeed, Emelyanychev's tempi were exceptionally languorous, and Principal Flute André Cebrián delivered a suitably luxurious and languid solo, but although there was a lot of fine detail that was more audible because of the lighter texture, there was nevertheless a slightly undernourished feel to the whole thing, and that sensuous heat haze never quite materialised.

The Saint-Saëns, on the other hand, did not suffer at all from a smaller orchestra size, and Emelyanychev delivered a strong, passionate reading to match the intense and heartfelt performance from Steven Isserlis.  He threw himself into the cello solo's declamatory lines with complete conviction and that beautiful singing tone, wholly absorbed and absorbing.  

It was a little startling to note that Jean Français's "Dixtuor" (decet, in English, or dectet) dates from as recently as 1987.  Français's musical idiom hardly seems to match with the period - this was the year that saw John Adams's Nixon in China as possibly the most notable creation of the year, and probably the most durable.  Français's easy charm, and his prolificness, have seen him rather neglected as a composer, especially as he does not appear to have significantly developed or altered in style over his very long career.  The charm, though, is authentic, and the craft is undeniable, as this piece showed.  Scored for string quintet (with double-bass, rather than a second cello) and wind quintet, it plays out in four movements, three of them with a great deal of humour, but the slow movement has a very Gallic melancholy to it.  Best was perhaps the third movement, Scherzando, winds in a skittish mood over plucked strings, a twiddly, twirly, harum-scarum chattering, with the French horn occasionally making rude comments.

After all this French music, the Bartók came a little out of left field, but we were still in that grey area between chamber and orchestral music that the Françaix, performed with a conductor, had introduced, and the Divertimento slotted right in there comfortably.  The two dozen string players were grouped around the conductor, violins and violas standing, and what came through most was the interplay between sections and sub-sections.  Although the piece isn't really neo-Classical, it does have that hint of the concerto grosso about it, with smaller groupings contrasted against larger ones.  As with the Saint-Saëns, Emelyanychev brought a particular intensity to this piece, very focused, very distinct with the contrasts, and building to an exhilarating finale.

[Next : 27th February]