BBC SSO/Volkov
City Halls, Glasgow
Keith Bruce
four stars
QUITE correctly, the headline piece in this characteristically-inventive programme from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor Ilan Volkov was Richard Strauss’s tone poem Don Quixote, in which Armenian cellist Narek Hakhnazaryan — in the title role — was partnered by first viola Scott Dickinson and leader Laura Samuel, but the 1897 work was preceded by two very thoughtfully-chosen works that are equally pictorial.
The first of these was the ten minute Serenata - Eine kleine Sonnenmusik by Romanian Myrian Marbe from 1974, a playful ten-minute evocation of dawn that specifically references the Nachtmusik of Mozart, and requires the fourteen string players on the platform to add bird calls to the mix as well as small percussion to the larger kit being played by the three percussionists on stage and one in the balcony. He was joined upstairs by five more strings and two flutes in what was a surround-sound experience, with Barry Deacon’s solo clarinet and Lynda Cochrane’s celesta crucial onstage solo voices. Once again this was Volkov bringing something of his Tectonics weekend of new music into the orchestra’s season, with a great deal of the shape of the music down to his improvisatory direction.
Prokofiev’s ballet suite Chout (The Buffoon), was perhaps the greater discovery of the evening, however. This music may have remained relatively unknown because of the lack of success of the performance for which it was written, but it is the Russian composer at his narrative and dramatic peak. With echoes of much better-known Prokofiev, it is music worthy to sit alongside both Peter and the Wolf and Romeo and Juliet, for all the comic absurdity of its storyline. With strings of many colours and lovely character portraits from the winds, the suite was a superb showcase for the talents all across the stage.
As too, of course, was the Strauss, with bassoons again to the fore, percussionist Dave Lyons taking a trip to the balcony for the wind machine, and the cello section and Helen Thomson’s harp realising the more romantic of the old knight’s obsessions. Composed immediately before Elin Heldenleben, its more transparent story-telling is a helpful hint not to take the later work too seriously.
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