Review by James Munro
RSNO
1 Sep 2011 in Highland, Music, Showcase
Empire Theatre, Eden Court, Inverness, 31 August 2011
Frank-Michael Erben
Our anonymous talker waxed lyrical about the first work on the programme, Mendelssohn’s 3rd Symphony, known as the “Scottish”, with regular reference to the notes in our programmes, a document that was notably lacking in that they were either still in Glasgow or had not been printed. By the time that the rest of the audience were hammering on the doors to get in, the talk turned to the James MacMillan work, Three Interludes from The Sacrifice, a work that was unknown to the listeners and therefore should have been the centre of the talk, with the Mendelssohn Symphony and Elgar’s Enigma Variations being given passing coverage.
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that some details in the presentation of this concert had not been attended to. Who was meant to be organising the pre-concert talk, and who was going to be dealing with the programme sheets? And it might even be asked who selected the somewhat unusual, even bizarre, choice of works and the order of play?
Eventually the concert started with a very respectable sized audience, right up into the second circle of the Empire Theatre, and first up was Mendelssohn’s Scottish Symphony, a wonderful work that would normally be the finale to a performance with its melodious and majestic ending. Its themes were inspired by the then 20 year old Mendelssohn’s visit to Scotland in 1829 with his friend and companion Karl Klingemann, but it was not published until 1842. The performance was dominated by the strings, full orchestral forces, while the wind was only chamber orchestra size with three extra horns, making it seem a little unbalanced, but everyone played with considerable brio and the end result was most satisfying.
Then it was out for ice creams, etcetera, or to enjoy the drinks that we had been asked to pre-order, but couldn’t as the bar failed to open before the concert. As the audience returned to their seats they were handed a hastily printed set of programme notes. Well done to whoever it was at Eden Court who managed to rush out this information, as at least it gave the opportunity to read something about the MacMillan piece before it exploded around our ears.
The Sacrifice was MacMillan’s second opera and it received considerable critical praise when it was premiered by Welsh National Opera in late 2007, before going on a short tour of one night stands in the south. MacMillan chose three of the seven interludes in the opera to work into a concert piece, much as Britten had done with his Sea Interludes based on extracts from Peter Grimes. The RSNO played this work at the BBC Proms last year, but as far as I can establish this performance was its Scottish premiere.
There was one major problem. We were being asked to listen to these three pieces out of the context of the opera, despite the fact that the music is unequivocally thematic.
It started with a cacophonous row that developed into a nightmarish film-like passage. There was atmosphere, there was a most creepy crescendo, there was evidence that MacMillan understood the demands of each instrument. It was as though Hitchcock had risen from the grave, but at least it was over after fifteen minutes. Applause at the end was polite rather than enthusiastic.
Then, to end the concert was the second pot-boiling crowd-pleaser of the evening, Elgar’s Enigma Variations in which the composer paints a series of musical portraits of a number of his friends, including the famous Nimrod portraying A J Jaeger. The RSNO were in fine form on sure ground and although this quintessentially English work has not achieved popularity outside the United Kingdom the visiting German conductor, Franz-Michael Erben, had grasped an excellent understanding of its nuances. It so happens that Erben is also the Konzertmeister, or Leader, of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, so he will be taking this programme to home territory on Sunday. Perhaps the Leipzig audience will make more sense of the eccentric order in which the works were played.
© James Munro, 2011
I was away for a few days and missed this concert, but while I understand James’s frustration at the RSNO’s level of Inverness activity, it should be said that the invitation to play at the Leipzig Mendelssohn Festival is the most prestigious that has come the way of the Orchestra in some time (and all the more significant given current funding levels). Frank-Michael Erben was the main instigator of the visit, and it was he who chose the content – and presumably the order – of the music, in accordance with this year’s theme of “Mendelssohn and England”. The addition of the MacMillan piece was a nod to both the RSNO and Mendelssohn’s Scottish connections. All of the rehearsals for both concerts took place in Glasgow ahead of the Eden Court concert, which was actually a crucial part of the preparation process rather than simply a warm-up.