Aviemore Highland Resort, 24 March 2007

Scottish composer John McLeod

THE massed ranks of the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and the Highland Region Youth Orchestra provided an impressive sight as well as a huge sound in this fulsome contribution to the Highland 2007 celebrations.

The Aviemore venue was chosen primarily on grounds of capacity, and even then the 170 strong orchestra occupied half of the available floor space in the Resort’s biggest auditorium.

They produced concentrated and polished playing (after a slightly wobbly opening bar) in the opening work, Shostakovitch’s ‘Festival Overture’, and set a precedent for what was to come. Both orchestras performed on their own as well as in tandem in a programme that reflected the celebratory theme of the event.

The Highland Region Youth Orchestra had their moment in the solo spotlight in Chabrier’s ‘España’, with their regular conductor, Susan Dingle, taking over the podium from Clark Rundell, who conducted the rest of the concert. The orchestra has developed greatly since coming under Dingle’s charge, and if they did not match the depth and lustre of the professional players, they coped well with the colourful and often testing music.

The BBC SSO closed the first half with their own account of Aaron Copland’s ‘Billy The Kid: Suite’, prepared by the composer from his ballet music on the life of the famous outlaw.

Scottish composer John McLeod was commissioned to write a new work for the occasion, and rose to the challenge with the highly-energised ‘Fling’, a work that made few concessions in difficulty to the young players.

Its constantly shifting structure evoked the short, sharp, highly energetic attributes of its title. The exuberant momentum of this colourful piece never flagged, and the Highland youngsters rose to the challenge in fine fashion.

A glowing account of Holst’s ‘St Paul’s Suite’ from the BBC strings was one of the best I have heard in this work. A very successful collaboration closed in impressive fashion with another joint work, Sibelius’s ‘Finlandia’. The opening low brass and percussion sounded even more portentous than usual, and the music resonated powerfully.

© Kenny Mathieson, 2007