SCO, 12/10/2012

Berlioz : King Lear Overture
Mendelssohn : Violin Concerto (Veronika Eberle)
Beethoven : Symphony No. 3 "Eroica"

Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Robin Ticciati



It's a little startling to realise that Berlioz's King Lear Overture actually post-dates the Symphonie fantastique, because the latter work is such an extraordinary piece, and this seems almost like a step backwards by comparison.  If the symphony wasn't there as a benchmark, one could view King Lear  as a promising student work, with clear indications of greater things to come, as well as open acknowledgements of his models, notably Beethoven.  As it is, though, the overture hardly rivals with the fervent, fevered imagination deployed in such splendour in the symphony, and even a sympathetic reading from Ticciati, very much a Berlioz fan, can't raise it from out of the ranks of the average.  That said, average Berlioz is usually more interesting than average a great many other composers, so it was still worth hearing.

When I booked my ticket for this concert, the scheduled concerto was the Schumann Violin Concerto, which is one of the few pieces of Schumann I genuinely and consistently enjoy, and doesn't get played nearly enough in concert.  You may therefore easily imagine my disappointment on discovering the change of programme.  I have nothing against the Mendelssohn - how could I, it's not arguably the world's most popular violin concerto for nothing - but it is, naturally, a great deal more familiar.  Veronika Eberle gave a lovely performance, with a clear, singing tone, full of strength and grace, and no doubt it's ungrateful of me, but I do wish I'd heard that talent deployed in the Schumann.

Finally, Beethoven's 3rd Symphony, which set off at the kind of break-neck pace that can only be sustained by smaller phalanxes; bigger ones almost inevitably lose definition at this sort of speed.  With the added rawness of sound that comes with the use of natural horns, it made for an exhilarating start.  However, things started to get really interesting in the slow movement, because this was the most ironic reading of the funeral march I can ever recall hearing, as if Beethoven was already aware of the inevitable failure of the revolutionary ideals which had formerly inspired him.  After this cool, almost bitter-sweet movement, the Scherzo seemed a little frivolous, although the natural horns really came into their own in the hunting calls of the Trio, and the last movement was also taken at a pretty brisk pace, where I would have liked a little more expansiveness at times.  However, the range of colour in the variations was impressive, and the whooping coda brought the piece to a suitably triumphant close.

[Next: 13th October]