Music
Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Keith Bruce
four stars
IT is, remarkably, five years since Robin Ticciati gave us his cycle of Schumann symphonies with the SCO, subsequently released in acclaimed recordings on Linn. The Symphony in D Minor is properly only No. 4 if played in the composer’s revised 1851 version, as Ticciati chose, and as Emmanuel Krivine selected here.
His wife Clara preferred it, although his other musical executor Johannes Brahms did not, and that disagreement was a source of friction between them.
It certainly seems more considered and flowing than the original score (which Rattle chose to record in Berlin) in the hands of both the SCO conductors, and under Krivine it was the brisker passages that were best of all, utilising larger forces, I think, than Ticciati, and combining modern brass instruments with period timpani.
Those decisions paid off in the expansive acoustic of the Usher Hall with a performance that proved once again how worthy the Schumann symphonies are of their current – and relatively recent – established place in the orchestral repertoire.
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 4 perhaps suffers from being between two more obviously radical works in his sequence for the instrument, as well as being both quite jolly and placid by turns. There is something of the Pastoral Symphony in the scoring for the orchestra and Krivine’s interpretation certainly put as much emphasis on that as it left room for soloist Bertrand Chamayou.
There is a querulous and plaintive tone to much of the piano part, especially in the slow movement, and Chamayou captured that beautifully. Here, however, the big hall seemed to be working against the musicians’ approach, which may well prove better suited to the more intimate acoustic of the City Hall in Glasgow.
Mendelssohn wrote his Overture, The Fair Melusina, as a 28th birthday present for his older sister, Fanny, 185 years ago, give or take a week or so. Rather less played than his travel-inspired Hebrides Overture of around the same time, it is still unmistakably the work of the young composer at his pictorial best, and was a fine opening showcase for the SCO’s splendid wind section.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here