GEORGINA COBURN is impressed by the orchestral playing and a rising young conductor.

WHILE THE recent economic downturn has impacted negatively on the frequency of orchestral touring in the North [and the programming, as witness the RSNO rolling up with a programme and orchestral forces more characteristic of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra – Ed.], clearly it has done nothing to diminish the appetite and enthusiasm of the local audience.

Trisdee Na Patalung

This latest concert by the RSNO was a sell out, and while the programme could have done with an injection of more challenging and unexpected material, the buoyant selection of popular works by Mozart, Elgar and Beethoven clearly pleased the warmly appreciative audience.

Perhaps the most unexpected element was the way in which 23-year-old conductor Trisdee na Patalung (Resident Conductor of the Bangkok Opera and Music Director of the Bangkok Baroque Ensemble) blended so seamlessly into the body and fabric of the orchestra.

In concert halls the world over we are used to seeing large presences and personalities, not always in the service of the music they perform. It was therefore refreshing to see Trisdee na Patalung’s unassuming sensitivity, which came to the fore in the second movement (Larghetto) of Elgar’s Serenade For Strings Op.20, and in his lead of the orchestra in their performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8 in F Major, Op93.

Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K525 opened the programme with a predictable flourish, followed by the celebrated composer’s Horn Concerto No 4 K495, with David McClenaghan, the RSNO’s esteemed Pricnipal Horn player, as soloist. Though beautifully played and phrased, the smoothness of a modern valve instrument provides a very even sound, unlike the period instrument where chromatic notes were achieved by stopping with the hand.

Like a lot Mozart performances, this work felt more like an exercise in technique and musical form perfected by performer and composer than a memorable piece of musical expression. Although the concerto is a musical form designed for display of the range of an instrument and the prowess of the soloist, it felt as if there was more potential for interpretation of the original work. When pieces of classical repertoire are so well known the ultimate challenge for any performer is to make the audience hear them anew.

Elgar’s Serenade For Strings Op20 opened the second half of the programme, exhibiting the composer’s characteristic lyricism and density of strings. The gentle repose and mellowness of this work, which evolved from three (now lost) miniatures, Spring Song, Elegy and Finale (1888-9), were perfectly compatible with the sensibility of the conductor. Here the orchestra communicated the essential qualities of Elgar’s music beautifully, leading to the highlight of the evening, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 8.

Although in comparison to the gravitas of Beethoven’s 7th and 9th symphonies [described as “comic” in the programme note – I assume that should have read “cosmic”, or else it needs a bit of explaining – Ed.] the 8th represents a reduction of scale both in terms of thematic content and orchestration, it also illustrates superbly Beethoven’s understanding of classical form in predecessors such as Mozart and Haydn.

The work also revealed the unmistakable energy underpinning the whole composition that is uniquely his own, and always so evident in his music. The 8th is a joyous and well rounded work that resists being a slave to its own symphonic structure – what we hear first and foremost is the colour of the orchestra and the insistent aural signature of a composer that mastered the art of both form and feeling, bringing us resoundingly into contact with both. The RSNO communicated this brilliance in unison.

It seems ironic that at a time when people need art the most, cutbacks in touring are considered – even by members of the arts community – to be an inevitable consequence of recession. In our not so distant past there are examples of more enlightened government leadership in times of economic depression that have actually resulted in wider public art programmes, touring and performance. It is a pity that organisations such as the RSNO are not currently part of a larger cultural framework facilitating such access, and that we accept lack of priority as an excuse for lack of funds.

© Georgina Coburn, 2009

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