Music

RSNO Chamber Ensemble, Cottier's Theatre, Glasgow

Michael Tumelty

Four stars

THERE is a never-ending discussion about why Schubert left so many works only partially-completed, a good one for pub talk. Even better, however, that some of these torsos (if that's what they are) have found a life in the concert hall and on disc.

It was rewarding to hear two of them, the single-movement B flat Major String Trio, and the one completed movement of D703, the famous Quartettsatz, so lightly and melodically-played on a warm Sunday afternoon in Cottier's with players from the RSNO bringing an airy quality to the Trio, and a genuinely restless, dramatic rustling to the Quartettsatz.

Then the group bigged-up to six, and quite a line-up, with leader Maya Iwabuchi, principal second violin, Xander van Vliet, violists Tom Dunn (principal) and Francesca Hunt, with cellists Alexei Kiseliov (principal) and Betsy Taylor in a very fine performance of Brahms' First String Sextet that will be remembered for a long time.

There was a secret to the great success of this performance, and it was to do with weight and momentum. Brahms is a genuine heavyweight, of course, but I've heard too many performances which seem to apply that quality literally and physically, with the result that some pages of the piece can sound over-weighty, laboured and, at worst, bogged down. (For many years, as a young man, I loathed Brahms, for these very qualities: and they weren't his!)

The RSNO players' performance had a superb sense of balance between top and bottom of the texture, translucence around the viola lines, and a gently well-sprung rhythm, with a buoyant momentum. It never dragged; I loved it.