Music
BBC SSO/Wilson
City Halls, Glasgow
Keith Bruce
****
ALTHOUGH he is a fascinating example of how fashions change – an interest in early music that made him seem a fogey a century ago was almost a requirement of a more recent generation of composers – it is still the case that Ottorino Respighi is often seen as a writer of attractive picturesque music rather than a “serious artist”.
Maybe conductor John Wilson, who made his name with the light music of Hollywood musicals and has shown a deep understanding of other repertoire in his appointment as associate guest conductor with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, relates to that.
Having directed fine SSO performances of British music, his programme of all three of Respighi’s Roman suites revealed them as sumptuous orchestral works much more contemporary than is assumed.
There were some magnificent solo performances from principals across the orchestra, as well brass front of house and backstage, three keyboard players, four clarinets, a mandolin, a battalion of percussionists and timpanist Gordon Rigby playing his socks off, but the power of the ensemble was what most will remember. The evening came to a powerful climax with the martial end to the Pines of Rome, the best known of the three, but the Epiphany at the end of later, and rarer, Roman Festivals had no less impact. It was that work’s carnivalesque cabaret of instruments that made clear just how modern Respighi’s melodic style and orchestration were at the time of writing. In between those, the Fountains if Rome was a less flamboyant beast, given a carefully paced interpretation by Wilson, who had the music for Pines open before him even as it ended.
Given that the trilogy was the point of the exercise, it was, then, an odd decision not to play them in chronological order, which would certainly have worked just as well.
The short first half with Donizetti’s Overture to Don Pasquale and Puccini’s Capriccio sinfonico, which includes music he re-used in Boheme, was no less dramatic, and also illustrated just how far orchestral music for opera is from Hollywood fare, so condensed and requiring the ability for a big band to turn on a sixpence.
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