RSNO, 12/5/2012

MacMillan : Britannia
Strauss : Till Eulenspiegel
Ravel : Daphnis et Chloë

RSNO Chorus
RSNO Junior Chorus
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Stéphane Denève
"Au revoir, Stéphane", the concert was titled, since this is the last occasion on which Stéphane Denève would conduct the RSNO as its Music Director.  Appropriately enough, therefore, it was a showcase for the orchestra and its chorus(es).

In his prefatory comments - very much a feature of his concerts - Denève described James MacMillan as, in his opinion, Scotland's leading living composer.  I have no argument with that, and would go further; I think I've mentioned in an earlier post that I consider MacMillan, along with Knussen and Adès, one of Britain's best living composers.  "Britannia" dates back to 1994, and was written for the ABO.  It was therefore designed to show off an orchestra, and on the whole, does so very well.  It starts off in a more jubilatory mood than I'm accustomed to with MacMillan, but through a sequence of more introverted passages grows gradually darker and more uncertain.  Is it an evocation of Britain through the last century, from the triumphant imperialism evoked by a quotation of Elgar, to more troubled modern times?  MacMillan's programme note is not so specific, but that's the appeal of first encounters, to see how they catch your imagination, if they do, and this one did.

Any performance of Strauss's "Till Eulenspiegel" in which the horns neither crack nor fluff an entry in any noticeable fashion is already something of a win.  It's a fiendishly difficult piece for the orchestra, and Strauss always did have a habit of confiding his best tunes, and most significant moments to the horns, no doubt a legacy of his horn-playing father.  They met the challenge tonight, a solid bank of golden sound at the heart of Strauss's lush orchestration, while winds and strings hopped and skipped impishly through the 'merry pranks'.  I've heard more portentous death sentences, but this was a light-hearted reading, not looking for the more anarchic aspects of the character.

Finally, after a little speechifying, we were treated to the complete "Daphnis" ballet score, with its full choral component.  There was some lovely playing from the orchestra here, but even so, they were struggling to maintain the delicate magic of the music in the face of an agonisingly noisy audience, paroxysms of unstifled coughing systematically upsetting the most hushed moments, to the point that Denève felt the need to look over his shoulder.  Things settled somewhat after the first half, and the ravishing "Dawn" sequence was heard more or less intact, but I've rarely been as irritated by the public as I was tonight.  Still, the standing ovation at the end was a nice tribute to seven years of a rewarding (for both us and him, I hope) directorship, and I'm sure he will always be a welcome visitor to the RSNO's podium in the future.

[Next:  Possibly 14th May, definitely 16th May]