RSNO/Sondergard
Usher Hall, Edinburgh
A LITTLE sunny optimism does not go amiss at the moment, so the RSNO opening its new season with Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring on the same weekend as the BBC SSO played Schumann’s Spring Symphony was most welcome.
The Rite is one of those works at the top of the list to showcase the explosive power of an orchestra, requiring a vast number of musicians – nine horns, five each of clarinets and flutes, the exotic addition of a bass trumpet – and full of pounding rhythms.
Structurally lucid, with narrative titles for each of the 14 sections across its two parts, conductor Thomas Sondergard navigated its form at pace, making sure every detail of its complex and revolutionary orchestration was at the right level in the mix.
The challenges for individual players across its length, starting with first bassoon David Hubbard’s plaintive opening solo, are considerable, and the RSNO musicians did not put a foot (or a stick, bow or finger) wrong.
The other big work on the programme shared with the Stravinsky some highly individual orchestration. Britten’s Violin Concerto, written during his brief exile in North America in World War 2, is an early masterpiece where the combinations of instruments he uses and their dialogue with the soloist can still seem startling.
As for the demands on the violin soloist, those are considerable and American Stefan Jackiw is a player of prodigious talent who has something of the showman about him as well.
The fast second movement ends with a virtuosic cadenza of many contrasts and technical challenges, which he revelled in, and the work has a long dying fall, full of bent, bluesy notes that he played with expressive zeal. An encore of Bach was the icing on the cake.
The concert had opened with Stravinsky’s brief Fireworks, a nice choice of taster for the work that was to bring the evening to its climax, and the second half began with a world premiere from Glasgow-based Irish composer David Fennessy.
The Riot Act takes its inspiration from the confrontation between Red Clydeside’s striking workers and the authorities at the end of January 1919, when the military was brought in to support the police in what has become known as The Battle of George Square.
Fennessy makes full use of the huge Rite orchestra, asking the players to sing and four of them to blow referee whistles as well.
The toughest job goes to the vocal soloist, required to sing the titular piece of antique legislation against the cacophony, and tenor Mark Le Brocq produced a remarkable full-voiced performance.
The Riot Act is not a long piece, but it packs a huge punch and made its presence felt in the most exacting of company in this programme.
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