Music

RSNO

Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Keith Bruce

four stars

IT WOULD have been a major disappointment if RSNO principle Aleksei Kiseliov had not returned to the stage after his performance of the First Cello Concerto of Camille Saint-Saens to play The Swan with colleague Pippa Tunnell on harp. The concerto may be familiar, but that piece is both the best known work of the composer and for his instrument.

It made perfect musical sense in the programme as well, however, with the solo string/harp combination key to the structure – and familiarity – of the second half’s performance of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. Here was a programme that was full of music everyone loves, the only comparative rarity being the youthful Poulenc’s Ballet Russes score Les Biches, a work that requires large forces but a light touch, and gave the first moments in the spotlight to principle trumpet Chris Hart, in what is a superb piece of orchestration, with great writing for the winds too.

Arguably the Saint-Saens concerto receives too few professional performances, and Kiseliov brought out the full riches of the piece, reminding RSNO fans of the quality of the soloists in the ranks. His projection of tone from rich lower notes to the fleet fingering of higher passages on either side of them in the finale was absolutely the finest playing.

Principle Guest Conductor and Music Director Designate Thomas Sondergard put his mark on the old war horse that is Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestral fairytale from the opening bars. Here was a vibrant, colourful performance of a work that demands it by providing all the vibrancy and colour you might want, but there was keen appreciation of its meticulous structure as well, with guest leader Gordan Trajkovic outstanding on his solo passages.

With Betsy Taylor stepping up to lead the cellos, only one string section leader, Xander van Vliet, was in place, with a good few guests in crucial roles elsewhere as well, but nonetheless Sondergard made the work as excitingly realised as it can be. The narrative of the final movement was fast, articulate and tempestuous before finding a breath-holding intensity on the last page.