Martin Suckling : storm, rose, tiger
Schumann : Symphony No 4 (1841 version)
Beethoven : Violin Concerto (Viktoria Mullova)
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Robin Ticciati
Few brand new pieces speak to me immediately; if I've not been completely put off on first hearing, I need a couple more to assimilate properly, and that's pretty much the case here. I liked the orchestral colouring, the effective use of strings and wind in clouds of sound that sometimes created an almost Impressionist haze. My other initial impression was of a strong influence of Benjamin Britten, and I did wonder if there was perhaps room for a more overtly programmatic, not to say operatic type of music in this young composer's future output. However, I failed to grasp the structure of the piece, and my attention strayed towards the end, which was very abrupt.
Schumann, and especially orchestral Schumann, is not my favourite composer. I find that almost all of his orchestral gestures were picked up and better utilised by Brahms in particular, and Wagner peripherally, and I infinitely prefer the piano music. However, this was my first exposure to the original version of the Fourth Symphony, and the differences were certainly interesting, and then the orchestra gave a highly-coloured, vivacious reading that went a long way to making the work considerably more palatable to me.
However, the focus of the evening was always going to be on Viktoria Mullova in the Beethoven Violin Concerto. It may or may not be the greatest of all violin concertos, but along with the Sibelius, it's certainly my favourite. Tonight's reading was a very Classical one, in the stylistic sense; a crisp, clean performance from the orchestra (perhaps a shade fast for my liking in the first movement), and beautifully articulated, precise playing, with faultless intonation, from Mullova. To my surprise, she had a score on stage; how much she actually used it was impossible to tell. She also played cadenzas I didn't recognise, and still haven't identified as of writing, which was rather refreshing. Because it looked back, rather than forward, as an interpretation, some of the almost cosmic spaciousness of Beethoven's writing was less apparent than it can be, but on the other hand, the sense of growth from the past was crystal-clear, and it's just as valid a viewpoint, especially in such skilled hands.
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