Music
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
City Halls, Glasgow
Keith Bruce
three stars
THE viola, that oft-derided middle child of the string section that is the subject of many a gag (usually told by viola players), may currently be having a moment in the sun not seen since it was the favoured instrument of composers including Mozart, Beethoven and Mendelssohn. The chubby violin is often seen in traditional music these days and concertos are regularly being added to the repertoire by contemporary composers.
Superb player Maxim Rysanov gave the Scottish premiere performances of one the latest, by Latvian composer Peteris Vasks. The Ukrainian musician has been garlanded by awards and has a bowing technique is captivatingly graceful to watch as well as listen to – and a beautiful 18th century Guadagnini instrument. The piece has a couple of show-off cadenzas but is mostly about exploring the rich sonorities of the instrument, especially in the Adagio finale’s close partnership which the strings. The quicker second movement is very redolent of writing for the screen and whole piece is rich in melodic content.
That could be said for the whole programme, which began with what could almost be regarded as a “period” performance of Rautavaara’s 1972 Cantus Arcticus with sound engineer Joe Seal onstage amongst the musicians to supply the taped birdsong through stereo speakers. Estonian conductor Olari Elts teamed that with Respighi’s avian suite Gli Uccelli, which also repurposes “found” melodies, as does Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring, in what was a showcase of twentieth century orchestration from around the world.
Elts drew lovely performances from a large edition of the SCO, but the concert perhaps lacked a little something meatier to chew on. It seemed a little like being served a gorgeous selection of starters and deserts, but no main course.
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