SCO, 20/01/2017

Beethoven : Leonore Overture No. 1
Beethoven : Symphony No. 4
Beethoven : Violin Concerto (Nicola Benedetti, violin)

Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Joseph Swensen
Last week, I had very much enjoyed the SCO's contribution to Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto, yet tonight, in this all-Beethoven programme, there was something even more to enjoy in their playing, a warmth of tone, giving the relatively modest forces a richness and depth of timbre exploited to the full by Joseph Swensen, who approached all three pieces with his characteristic vitality.

Swensen is fun to watch on the podium, his exuberant conducting style expressive of the energy he puts in to the music, and which he communicates to his players.  The orchestra is well used to him, of course, he's been a regular with the SCO for over 20 years now, but it's good to see that the pleasure in reunions remains undiminished, on both sides, from what I could see.  The first of Beethoven's discarded versions of an overture for his only opera, Fidelio, and the Fourth Symphony are both slightly less familiar fare which were good to hear, refreshing both for being less often heard, and for the bright, vibrant readings, which nevertheless had the breadth and space that Beethoven requires.

He tones his podium activity down somewhat when there's a soloist on stage, so as not to be a distraction, I presume, but in any event, my eyes were on Nicola Benedetti, watching how, during the introduction to the concerto, the music was sinking into her skin, how she was visibly absorbing it into herself, to fuse with her own performance as soloist.  Her Tchaikovsky back in October with the RSNO had been very good, but this was in a different class entirely, far more profoundly engaged.  I don't know if she prefers this concerto, or if it was her partners on stage, but here was a laser-sharp focus reaching deep into the score, with strength and tenderness, and a soaring sweetness of tone in the slow movement.  I would have liked a shade more playfulness in the last movement, but their mood was clearly more soberly inclined, though there was no lack of grace.

There was also, perhaps, an added bonus in the combination of a violinist being conducted by a violinist, for Swensen is an world-class violinist in his own right, and would be familiar with the Beethoven concerto from both sides of the equation, so to speak, as soloist and as conductor.  There was never any empty posturing here, no grandstanding, either from soloist or orchestra.  On the contrary, there was an intimacy to the playing, a discretion that made the bigger gestures all the more striking.  It's been a while since I've heard a performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto as uplifting as this.

[Next : 22nd January]