SCO, 11/10/13

Dvorák : Notturno
Mozart : Piano Concerto No. 23, K.488 (Llyr Williams, piano)
Janácek : Concertino (Llyr Williams, piano)
Mozart : Symphony No. 38, "Prague", K.504

Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Alexander Janiczek

Dvorák's Notturno began life as a movement from an early, discarded string quartet, then migrated to a string quintet before being adapted for string orchestra, which was what we heard tonight.  It's an attractive enough piece, gently evocative, but I have to say it didn't strike me as particularly characteristic of the composer.  Dvorák without his woodwinds never quite sounds like himself.

Mozart's 23rd Piano Concerto, on the other hand, is a product of his full maturity, written while he was composing The Marriage of Figaro.  Its overall mood is forthright, confident but not extravagantly  brilliant, nor especially exuberant.  Llyr Williams's clarity of play brought the simple directness of this music to the fore, and his unique, singing tone made the aching melancholy of the central Adagio almost unbearably poignant.  Here was Figaro's Countess at her most disconsolate, pouring her heart out in exquisitely melodic resignation.

There was an interesting feature about this performance.  Janiczek, who used to be the leader of the SCO, habitually directs from the leader's position, with his violin.  In the concerto, this led to the slightly curious sight of the orchestra having two directors, because Williams at times made his own wishes clear.  It was certainly odd, but didn't seem to disconcert the players at all, and the whole played very smoothly.

The real rarity in tonight's concert was Janácek's Concertino, a late work that was originally conceived as a full-scale piano concerto before ending up as a chamber piece for piano, two violins, viola, clarinet, bassoon and French horn.  That said, the full group only plays in the latter two movements; the first movement is entirely between piano and horn, and the second between piano and clarinet, and Janácek compared these two movements to a "grumpy hedgehog" and a "fidgety squirrel", which is pretty apt when you hear the piece.

Even in this contained, and slightly peculiar layout, the Janácek sound is still distinct, the melodic lines built from repeated cells of music, and declamatory statements alternating with dreamier, more lyrical passages.  Williams's control of dynamic range was a huge asset here, permitting a full panoply of colour and shape, essential when there is so much repeating material.  I thought the balance on the winds' side, when all were playing, a little bass-heavy, but not enough to really upset things, and the performance was generally excellent.

Balance was again a little off in the outer movements of the "Prague" Symphony, where I found the timpani interventions somewhat on the explosive side.  This was particularly true in the slow introduction, disturbing what was otherwise a highly atmospheric and harmonically bold opening, a distinct foreshadowing of Beethoven, not to mention Don Giovanni, which was to follow soon after.  However, the rest of the performance was bright and polished, dancing in and out of the contrasting major and minor modes with grace and assurance.

[Next : Possibly 16th October, definitely 18th October]