Spa Pavilion, Strathpeffer, 2 September 2012

WITH the continuing paucity of orchestral visits from the Central Belt, performances from our own Highland Chamber Orchestra are even more appreciated by music lovers in the Highlands.

NOW twelve years old, the HCO is no longer a lusty infant but is approaching its teenage years under the firm command of Susan Dingle, whose strong hands will continue the orchestra’s development. Time and economic constraints prevent the HCO from presenting more than two programmes each year, usually at the beginning and the end of summer, and by ardently searching out new venues they are steadily building up a loyal following throughout the North. But as one orchestra member said to me, “This is our favourite venue”, so they returned to Strathpeffer for their second performance of this year’s second programme.

Susan Dingle conducts an earlier line-up of the orchestra in Dornoch Cathedral

A Mozart overture is a safe start to any programme, and that for Cosi fan tutte is as enjoyable as the opening of any of his operas. Even though it is mostly marked allegro, it gave the orchestra a relatively easy way into the concert and they played it with confidence and enthusiasm.

As a second work, Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll was a considerable contrast to the Mozart overture. Wagner is so much more complicated, and there are so many more layers to his compositions. The Idyll is now nearly always played by orchestral forces rather than the small ensemble that gave the premiere on Christmas Day in 1870 as a birthday gift for Wagner’s wife Cosima. There are challenges for all sections of the orchestra, and when playing forte all was well, but a certain hesitancy crept in to the quieter passages.

Wagner was a great man for lush tunes – think of the ‘Venusberg’ music from Tannhauser, or the arias from Die Meistersinger – and he loved his horns so much he had special ones made for the orchestra at Beyreuth. All this adds pressure on today’s players, and especially on the violins and the horns, but sadly the violins had not had enough time together to develop a strong ensemble and there were too few horns to obtain the effect Wagner sought. A shame, as this short treasure is one of Wagner’s most beautiful and emotional works. It demands and it deserves perfect playing.

To conclude the first half, the orchestra turned to a new piece that had come through the HCO Composers’ Play-through Day back in 2010. Andy Evans was inspired by the rural environment when he moved out of the city and started his short tone poem The Joy of Small Things in what was almost a homage to Aaron Copland, a feeling that lasted until the final bars. The winds were used to conjure up the elements of the countryside, the breeze, the birdsong, the fish in the loch or the light on the clouds, and this expression was then supported by the strings. All in all, a piece of considerable charm and effect, and proof that it is possible for new music to be universally accessible.

Gabriel Fauré was somewhat self-deprecating about his Pavane, Op 50. “Elegant but otherwise not important”, he is reported to have said. Nonetheless, this Pavane has remained probably the best-known and most loved of all his compositions. The whole work is held together by the haunting flute solo, played by Catherine O’Rourke, to which the rest of the orchestra gave delightful replies, resulting in a golden opening to the second half.

Apparently Susan Dingle is a great afficianado of Beethoven, and I was told that the HCO had started rehearsing his First Symphony before it became widely known that the same symphony was to be played by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra to end their recent Eden Court concert (and to be played yet again by the SCO at Eden Court next spring). Even so, the HCO did the work justice and played it with considerable expertise. The opening Allegro was full of energy, the Andante was gentle and with good emotion, the short Menuetto was like a refreshing interval drink and the orchestra galloped to a boisterous conclusion with a dancing allegro. Just like the wedding in Canaan, the Highland Chamber Orchestra left the best wine at the feast until the end.

© James Munro, 2012

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