SCO, 17/03/2023

Muhly : Three Songs for tenor and violin

Haydn : Symphony No. 104 "London"

Muhly : Shrink, concerto for violin and strings

Britten : Les illuminations

Allan Clayton, tenor

Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Pekka Kuusisto, violin/director

Pekka Kuusisto comes up with some pretty quirky concert programmes, and tonight was no exception.  He has been a staunch defender of Nico Muhly's work, and there were two quite contrasted pieces in this programme, the 2019 violin concerto entitled Shrink, of which Kuusisto is the dedicatee, and before that, a fairly brief vocal piece, that Muhly himself says should really be called Three Songs for tenor, violin and drone.  Effectively, the strings of the orchestra sustain a quiet drone, on two notes, for the entirety of the piece, with occasional variations in intensity and in texture but never in pitch.  

There are actually only two 'songs' technically, with an interlude for the violin in between. The first is an enigmatic love-song, a detailed, gently longing portrait of someone the poet has never met, while the second is essentially a list of words, things the poet loves.  The violin provides commentary on the first, sometimes dreamy, sometimes pointed, then breaks into a kind of stilted, interrupted dance, while for the third, its accompaniment is more rhythmic, insistent against the words.  The poetry chosen was French originally, Breton and Brunius (who I know better as an actor than a writer), but translated into English.  It's quite an attractive piece, reflective and peaceful, and was persuasively delivered by Allan Clayton, with Kuusisto as the solo violin, as well as directing the SCO strings.

The Haydn symphony, seen in the context of these other pieces, seemed a strange choice.  It's one of his grandest, with trumpets and timpani in the scoring, and it was the only piece that included the other sections of the orchestra tonight, everything else was for strings only.  On reflection, I think what perhaps tied it to at least the Three Songs was the drone aspect, which is a strong feature of the last movement, though in a far more folksy manner.  The playing as a whole was excellent, but it was too big a leap for me stylistically, and I found the second movement in particular very long.

Shrink falls into three movements, like any traditional concerto, and even follows the usual fast-slow-fast outline.  The outer movements are energetic, driving forward with almost perpetual motion, and quite visibly very demanding for the soloist, though Kuusisto certainly seemed to make light work of its virtuosity. The slow movement evolves into something almost hymn-like, with a hint of Copland's "open air" sound to it, before giving way to the frenetic activity of the last movement.  For me, the jury is still out on this piece; I didn't dislike it, but I don't have the feeling it's going to stick in my memory.

In any event, I was glad that what I considered the main event was yet to come, a performance of Britten's early and brilliant song-cycle Les illuminations.  Written for high voice and string orchestra, the first performances were given by a soprano, which is the way I've usually heard it.  However, Britten saw no problem in letting tenors sing it, notably his partner Peter Pears.  I have been inclined to agree with Britten biographer David Matthews' opinion that the sensuality of the work appears more strongly with a soprano voice, but then, going by tonight, I just hadn't heard the right tenor.  Clayton has that characteristic "English tenor" sound, but he also has a formidable variety of colour and dynamic in his voice, able to bring both vigour and delicacy as required, and his French was good.  He captured the shifting moods of the songs flawlessly, with a really beautiful tone of voice, and was vividly supported by Kuusisto directing the SCO strings.  This was an enthralling performance, a true gem to conclude the evening.

[Next : 14th April]