Britten : Four Sea Interludes from Peter Grimes
Rachmaninoff : Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini (Natasha Paremski)
Brahms : Symphony No. 1
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Peter Oundjian
In his address to the audience (after the Britten) Oundjian recalled, as a schoolboy chorister, working with Benjamin Britten for a couple of years on several recordings, but I'm not convinced yet that he really absorbed much of the composer's style. Maybe it's because he appears to have little operatic experience, but the first of the Interludes passed pretty much under the radar. The bells of Sunday Morning rang out clearly enough, and the hypnotic pulse of Moonlight was ideally evocative of a beach at night, and the slow lapping of the water on the shore. However, the Storm lacked a little of that whistling shrillness that's meant to set your teeth, and your nerves, on edge, with not enough treble from the violins for the right sound.
Natasha Paremski may just be joining my (very short) list of pianists I would listen to play Chopsticks. I admit I find it difficult to resist the Paganini Variations, but it's very easy to ham up, and the balance can also be difficult. Not tonight. The strength of her playing was effortless, so was the virtuosity, and there was a real devilish edge - a vivid reminder that the original source material is entitled a Caprice - which fed into, and back from, the orchestra to telling effect. The first couple of variations of the slow central section were just a trifle unfocused, but not for long, and the famous 18th was given space without excess sentimentality, before the fireworks resumed, and the piece concluded with a lovely, sardonic shrug. The Chopin Berceuse she gave as an encore was similarly clear and unfussy, delightfully soothing.
Brahms may have sweated blood and tears for a quarter of a century over the composition of his first symphony, but the end result is fairly extraordinary, because there's nothing tentative about it in the least. This is a mature, fully realised compositional voice, with all the composer's strongest hallmarks in evidence, from the broad melodic lines to the warmly autumnal colour of the orchestration. This was an excellent reading, expansive without dragging, forward-moving without being rushed, richly hued and confident in every area, with particularly fine-sounding playing from the horns, and a beautifully sweet-toned solo from the leader at the end of the second movement. There is no denying that works like the Brahms symphonies are part of the core repertory of the symphony orchestra, and while my own musical tastes tend to steer me a bit away from such, it is good to hear, and to know, that the orchestra is being guided by a conductor capable of giving full value and measure to this basic, essential material, while the Hungarian Dance encore left nothing to be desired in terms of dash and humour.
[Next 17th October]
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