SCO, 20/1/2012

Kodály : Dances of Galánta
Ligeti : Hamburg Concerto (Alec Frank-Gemmill, horn)
Dvorák : Symphony No. 5

Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Robin Ticciati

Any evening which includes such an exhilarating performance of the Dances of Galánta is a win for me.  This was a vivid, detailed reading, multilayered in texture with perfectly graded tempi, by turns solemn and sprightly, and the final plunge into the wild, whooping whirl of a finale was breathtaking.  A cracking start to the concert.

That kind of opening helps when having to take in a challenging contemporary work for the first time; it's always easier to listen with open ears when you're in a good mood.  Ligeti's Hamburg Concerto seems more like a concerto grosso than a standard concerto; there's a soloist who plays both natural and valve horn, then a quartet of natural horns, and then a small orchestra with a battery of (mostly tuned) percussion.  I think that it's a piece that's almost impossible to play really accurately in live performance, since the natural horn simply doesn't lend itself to precision.  I was hearing quite a lot of split notes on entries, or fleeting delays, but not in any way that could define this as a poor performance.  Like much of Ligeti, ideas appear only to disappear with disconcerting rapidity, before you've really had much chance to get a grip on them; there's something inherently tantalising in his music.  There was a passage for the orchestra alone in his familiar chittering style, but what stays with me is the opening, with the five natural horns slowly layering tone upon tone until the air seemed to shimmer with the compounded harmonics.

The final work was a relatively rare opportunity to hear Dvorák's 5th Symphony.  I wasn't sure I had ever actually heard this work, I certainly don't have it in my music collection, but recognition came promptly enough.  It's the first of Dvorák's mature symphonies (there was a period when it was actually the first recognised - the New World used to be known as his 5th) and the blend of Germanic romanticism and Czech nationalism is unmistakeable.  No matter how much Dvorák may sound like his German contemporaries (Brahms in particular) - and he does, often - if conductor and orchestra have understood the music correctly, the moment the winds get a hold of any thematic material, you know instantly who you're hearing, which was precisely what happened here.

There were a few rough corners, slightly fudged entries, and the strong attention to detail that had worked so well in the Kodály slightly played against Dvorák at the start of the first movement, but settled down later.  The inspiration in the symphony is somewhat uneven - I find the slow movement a bit dull, and there's no doubt that the end of the last movement is a little over-extended - and not even a high-spirited and sympathetic interpretation such as the one given tonight can hide it, but the scherzo was an absolute delight, and the overall aspect very enjoyable.

I hope the horn section got treated to a good pint afterwards - they certainly earned it!

[Next event : 28th January]