Borisova-Ollas : Open Ground
Schumann : Piano Concerto (Barry Douglas)
Dvorák : Symphony No. 8
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Christoph Altstaedt
Victoria Borisova-Ollas is a Russian-born composer who trained in Moscow and London, and now lives and works in Sweden. Open Ground, written in 2006, is a short orchestral piece and appears to be meant as an impression of the uncertainty into which one can be plunged after a cataclysmic event, whether a literal one, such as a major earthquake, or an emotional one. Her orchestral style is somewhat minimalist - short, motoric cells of rhythm, scattered melodic fragments - and concentrated, but with quite lush orchestral colouring. It's fairly accessible music, and it was no hardship to stay with this piece, written in a clear arc, with hushed, mysterious opening and closing sections, passing through a turbulent climax.
The Irish pianist Barry Douglas favoured us with an exemplary performance of the Schumann Piano Concerto. This is a piece of which I'm not overly fond - except when given the kind of thoughtful, but unsentimental attention Douglas lavished on it. He has beautiful dynamic control, allowing him to colour every phrase individually so that there was no hint of repetitiousness, yet not pushing things to idiosyncratic extremes. The cascades of notes in the outer movements flowed effortlessly, full of easy virtuosity without unnecessary swagger, while Altstaedt saw to it that the orchestra provided discreet and sympathetic support, though there was just a little drift in the last movement.
Dvorák's Eighth is his equivalent to Beethoven's Pastoral. Birdsong, the glories of nature, rustic life, all spill over from every bar in a vibrant and upliftingly joyous pageant. On the other hand, one doesn't usually expect nature to make its presence felt inside the actual concert hall, and from the second movement on many of us (at least on my side of the hall) were a little disturbed by what sounded suspiciously like a leak in the ceiling! If the orchestra heard that, they didn't let it bother them unduly, though I did find the Adagio slightly lacking in focus. The outer movements, however, were brimful of vitality, sunnily exuberant, and a fine antidote to the miserable rain awaiting us outside,
[Next : 27th January]
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