Category Archives: Venues

RSNO, Prieto and others (Usher Hall: 2 Dec’16)

Posted in 4*, Music, Rated: Nae Bad, Usher Hall by

Image result for verdi

“…this was a strong, conviction performance of a great work with some fine playing and singing”

Editorial Rating:  4 Stars: Nae Bad

“An opera in ecclesiastical robes” (Von Bulow”). “Bulow has blundered. It is a work of genius” (Brahms). But Von Bulow was not necessarily being pejorative. So what if the Verdi Requiem is an opera in ecclesiastical robes? This perennial argument does have some merit in criticism of the work. I see nothing wrong in celebrating a requiem in operatic style, but it is the structure and intervals within the requiem format that get in the way of the flow of the work. It is a series of seven moments, apart from the enjoyably more substantial Dies Irae and Libera Me. To me, its enjoyment is entirely secular. If I want a spiritual or religious high, I turn to Faure, or Mozart or, indeed, Brahms. If I want music to die for (le mot juste?), then it’s Verdi.

Friday night’s wonderful performance by the RSNO, RSNO Chorus and four soloists: soprano Evelina Dobraceva, mezzo-soprano Elizabeth DeShong, tenor Edgaras Montvidas and Bass-Baritone Hanno Muller-Brachmann – under the baton of Carlos Miguel Prieto was at times spoilt by the audience. On the whole I have a lot of time for the RSNO followers, who do not whoop or whistle, do not clap between movements, and allow a respectful interval at the end of a piece before applauding, but on Friday they coughed and they croaked as and when they pleased, spluttering just a few moments into the desperately fragile pianissimo Requiem. Surely they could have held back at least until the forte passages. I relished – in the fortissimo Dies Irae – the thought of drowning them out myself. This may be the price you pay for live music in winter, but perhaps the Usher Hall could print a few useful tips on muting the effect, as they do in the programme notes at the Royal Festival Hall.

Enough of the audience and on to the artists. The 120 strong chorus managed to keep precision and intensity in their pianissimo entrance, and sang throughout with discipline, force and feeling. Sopranos never harsh, well balanced between the four parts and every entry spot on; basses clear, and good mid range from the altos and tenors. They sang the Dies Irae and Libera Me as well as I have ever heard it sung. Bearing in mind the size of their catchment area this pays a real compliment to their talent and training.

The orchestra were also well up to the task and played with feeling and élan. The “stereo” effect of placing two trumpets up in the gods at the back of the hall in reply to the others on the stage in the Tuba Mirum worked very effectively – it doesn’t always – and it was a revelation to hear, again in the Dies Irae, a double fortissimo, that’s four fortes, without any blaring or coarseness.

The casting of the four soloists from America, Lithuania, Germany and Russia, coming together for a couple of gigs in Glasgow and Edinburgh shows what an international world classical music is, and how Scotland is right up there with the best of them in its ability to attract such talent. The work is not easy on the soloists, especially when singing with each other in duet format. Individual soloists sang well with the orchestra but the two sopranos struggled to sound homogenous in the Recodare, Jesu Pie in the Dies Irae but had got more used to each other in the kinder Agnus Dei. One felt bass-baritone Hanno Muller-Brachmman wasn’t entirely comfortable in the Mors Stupebit and Confutatis maledictus in the Dies Irae, but he entranced us later in the Lux Aeterna. Their quartet for the Offerterio worked well, and soprano Evelina Dobraceva thrilled us in the concluding Libera Me where she really nailed it.

Overall this was a strong, conviction performance of a great work with some fine playing and singing with just a few issues of coordination and integration between soloists, which is always a risk with a live performance of a work that really puts them on the spot. There was a respectable pause before enthsiastic applause broke out, showing that the audience’s heart was in the right place, even if their fitful larynxes were not.

nae bad_blue

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Charles Stokes (Seen 2 December)

Go to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Visit Edinburgh49‘s Usher Hall archive.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lyceum: 26 Nov – 31 Dec.’16)

Posted in 4*, Rated: Outstanding, The Lyceum, Theatre by
Photo credit Drew Farrell. (L-R) David Carlyle as Gryphon, David James Kirkwood as cast, Jess Peet as Alice, Gabriel Quigley as Queen of Hearts, John Macaulay as King, Alan Francis as Duchess, & Tori Burgess as cast.

Photo credits: Drew Farrell.
(L-R) David Carlyle as Gryphon, David James Kirkwood as cast, Jess Peet as Alice, Gabriel Quigley as Queen of Hearts, John Macaulay as King, Alan Francis as Duchess, & Tori Burgess as cast.

“This particular and generous invitation to Wonderland should be accepted at once”

Editorial Rating:  4 Stars: Outstanding

When Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was first published Britain also got its first speed limits for horseless vehicles. The Locomotive Act of 1865 meant no more than 4mph in the countryside and 2mph in towns, together with a red warning flag. No doubt Edinburgh Council is heading that way again, and for good reason, but that does not stop Anthony Neilson’s version of Lewis Carroll’s nonsense classic from being very welcome, fast and surprising.

‘A large rabbit-hole under the hedge’ it has to be, for how else could a very round White Rabbit (WR) go down it? Wowza! It is some exit! Children gasped. And ‘in another moment’ down went Alice after WR, feet first, ‘never once considering how in the world she was to get out again’. No worries – as Alice plummets towards Australia – remember that this is a ten year old on approach to Wonderland.

 The Lyceum is bedecked with small hot air balloons and a fluttering kite. Fairground music plays on and up goes the title in lights, announcing the main attraction as part gaiety theatre, part fond and exuberant dream. It is all, quite naturally, larger than life. Wait until you see the size of the Duchess’s baby. And those arms! Surreal. The Cheshire Puss grins from within the disc of the sun, Alice gets stuck inside WR’s des res and there’s alarming talk of Giant Child infestation. Set a jumbo tea service upon designer Francis O’Connor’s super revolve, press the ‘On’ button and see the glittering tea leaves fly …

(L-R) Jess Peet as Alice, Isobel McArthur as Dormouse, David Carlyle as March Hare, & Tam Dean Burn as the Mad Hatter

(L-R) Jess Peet as Alice, Isobel McArthur as Dormouse, David Carlyle as March Hare, & Tam Dean Burn as the Mad Hatter

It may, at the close, be all Victorian and ‘lingering in the golden gleam’ – and that’s ok, as Carroll admired Tennyson after all (& photographed him) – but in terms of performance and effect the surface quality is lively and attractive. There’s nothing adrift here; no pool of tears either. Instead Alice (Jess Peet) is pretty contemporary: sure-footed and unfazed, arguably more midshipman in the Home Fleet than a dreamy little girl from Oxford, but resolute with crystal diction and a level gaze. Tam Dean Burn plays the Hatter as mad as mad can be without terrifying a young audience and he has maniacal fun with the safety curtain. Mordant humour might well be the preserve of the Welsh and – for me – David Carlyle’s glum Gryphon, marvellously at odds with his colourful plumage, is the co-star of the show. He (and not the Knave) stands accused of stealing the Queen’s tarts – surely a preposterous charge, for who could refuse to follow his courtly lead in the Lobster Quadrille?

As wholesome children’s picture books go The Very Hungry Caterpillar is up there with the best and Eric Carle’s creation, unlike Carroll’s, does not smoke a hookah but then it has long been observed that you ‘Do not look to ‘Alice’s Adventures’ for knowledge in disguise’. Quite what you do look for is your crazy, delighted, business and it might even, with a lot of luck, be the same as a child’s vision. A recipe for mock-turtle soup as pepper spray won’t appeal but otherwise this particular and generous invitation to Wonderland should be accepted at once, not least because no hedgehog was harmed in its production.

outstanding

StarStarStarStar

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 1 December)

Go to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland at the Lyceum

Visit Edinburgh49’s The Lyceum archive.

Jekyll & Hyde (Church Hill Theatre: 22 – 25 Nov ’16)

Posted in 3*, Church Hill Theatre, Musical Theatre, Rated: Unrated by

Stephen Quinn as Jekyll (& Hyde) Photos: Erica Belton

Stephen Quinn as Jekyll (& Hyde)
Photos: Erica Belton

“The talent neither stops at the singing, nor at the bounds of the principal cast.”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars

I was part of an unfortunate, if very narrow, generation whose first encounter with Robert Louis Stephenson’s monstrous Mister Hyde was the opening of a terrible Hugh Jackman movie. As a result, questions of the duality of man, the nature of morality and the dangers of unrestrained passion didn’t really factor in for a while. It seems fitting therefore that EUSOG’s latest outing follows the pattern of contrast underscored by its source material: it’s a collection of both dizzying highs and curiously disappointing lows.

Jekyll & Hyde loosely follows Stephenson’s original work, with a few new emotional complications thrown in. It is a musical exploration of the ambition, suffering and fear associated not only with the fraught Henry Jekyll, but its effects on his friends, family and even the city of London itself. And to begin –  as usual – with the ability on display, it’s considerable. The singing talent in this show can’t be denied, ensemble included. Ellie Millar and Giselle Yonace in particular offer utterly breathtaking solos as Emma Carew and Lucy Harris, culminating in a duet that could shatter glass for precision.

And the talent neither stops at the singing, nor at the bounds of the principal cast. Special props go to Kirsten Millar as the world’s most entertainingly jovial prostitute; and to Jana Bernard, whose rare mix of graceful flexibility and natural showmanship lead to an array of angles that’d make an architect weep. Despite the occasional desync in a dance, the ensemble did their job with gusto and skill.

But any praise would be incomplete without hailing new face Stephen Quinn as the titular duo. Powerful voice aside, I found myself extremely taken with his portrayal of Henry Jekyll: he balances ambition, humanity and (perhaps most importantly) a genuine vulnerability during his two hour tenure as the good doctor, and it certainly stuck. Often, mild-mannered Jekyll is the more under-realised of the two, and it was refreshingly welcome to see such care put into his characterisation.

The question then, I suppose, is why this show only has three stars – and why have I personally left it unrated?

Despite the considerable strength of the cast, there are distinct elements of this show that detract from the overall fabric of the performance. Most glaringly, perhaps, is the way in which they handle Edward Hyde. At its core, there simply wasn’t enough contrast or intensity: often, the only difference between the two selves seemed to be his ragged choice of jacket, rather than any significant change in manner. The visceral glee, passionate brutality and utterly malevolent hedonism which typifies Hyde seems to get lost somewhere in the mix – and this is certainly not helped by fight choreography which is so floaty and strangely force-less that it occasionally comes off as comical rather than dramatic. Sitting next to the fantastic choreography of song numbers such as ‘Bring on the Men’, it seems worlds apart.

jekyllhyde3

And, most unfortunately, that fundamental element of violence and rage, which seems to be missing from much of the production, runs deeply through its other elements. Without that relish of cruelty, many scenes feel strangely bland for want of a contrast which just isn’t there. Combine that with mics which popped in and out more often than a first year halls cleaning lady and with variable volume levels, which would put Brexit indecision to shame, even when the show was at its strongest, then it was unsurprising that at times I could not hear a damned – or virtuous – thing.

That said, if you’re looking for a collection of entertaining and ear-pleasing song numbers, you’ll like what you get. However, if you’re wanting an exploration of human nature, brutality and debauchery, and a spot or two of vanquishing, then …. No. Upfront this is a strong production but it is let down by its emotional backdrop. For those who aren’t as pedantically focused on its content as I am, it’s certainly not going to sour your night – but walking home through the cold Edinburgh air I couldn’t help but think that Mister Hyde just didn’t show up.

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Jacob Close (Seen 22 November)

Go Edinburgh University Savoy Opera Group

Visit the Church Hill Theatre archive.

Blackbird (Bedlam: 16-17 Nov ’16)

Posted in 3*, Bedlam, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre by

“Powerful and moving”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars: Nae Bad

I was quite apprehensive before taking my seat, as to how Edinburgh University Theatre Company would present the strong, emotive themes of trauma, abuse and love in David Harrower’s intense two-hander. With the entire play focusing on one conversation between the two central characters Ray and Una, how well would the actors sustain and communicate this challenging piece?

The plot sees Una (Sophia Dowson-Collins) seek out Ray (Benjamin Aluwihare) to confront him about the sexual relationship they had fifteen years prior – when she was only a 12 year old girl whilst he was a grown man of 40. She wants to face the past but he is at first unwilling to speak to her. As the play progresses they both go through a range of emotions, sometimes screaming at each other and at other times talking calmly about trivial things, creating a dramatic if at times, confusing dynamic.

The script is complex, taking a while to build and reel the audience in before taking a deeper and darker turn. We get to piece together more about the identities and personalities of both characters, and some surprising twists and turns reveal the truth of what happened fifteen years ago and how both characters have dealt with their experiences since. The silent captivation from my fellow audience members throughout told its own story: at times there was perceptible discomfort, and I personally found the whole thing quite awkward and difficult to watch, but only because the performance felt so real.

Although both performers did well I was particularly impressed by Dowson-Collins’s performance: at times there were long streaks where only she would speak – sometimes to Ray but often more like she was speaking to herself. She was captivating and consistent throughout, bringing a great sense or realness to her character. Aluwihare seemed nervous and awkward for the most part and although fitting with Ray’s character, it was difficult to tell how much “acting” came into play.

The set was perfectly suited to the action: it was very simple with just a couple of seats, a table and some office lockers, making the actors do the work to convey the story. In saying that, what didn’t work so well was the use of a plastic sheet hanging behind Una and Ray, from behind which a girl would appear to represent Una becoming a ghost of herself through everything she had experienced. Although I could see what the production was trying to do I felt like this distracted from the dialogue between Una and Ray, and a more creative way of expressing this idea could have been used to greater effect.

All in I was very impressed by the performance. The themes may not be to everyone’s taste, but it was still a fascinating watch.

nae bad_blue

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

—

Reviewer: Iona Young (Seen 16 November)

Visit the Bedlam archive.

RSNO: SONDEGARD, SOLLIMA (Usher Hall: 18 Nov ‘16)

Posted in 3*, Music, Usher Hall by

Image result for shostakovich

 “Was this the new Russia? Who cares? The music was amazing.”

Editorial Rating:  3 Stars

“Football is a game of two halves” as the crass saying goes. The intimation is, there is a good half, and a bad half. Friday’s RSNO concert can be explained in such terms. Relatively speaking, the first half disappointed, the second enthralled.

Cellist Giovanni Sollima was the soloist for the Dvorak Cello Concerto, and, to kick the evening off, in his own piece Violoncelles, vibrez! (in fact a duo for two cellos and orchestra) he shared the soloist platform with Aleksei Kiseliov, the RSNO’s principal cellist. Written to mark the tenth anniversary of the death of Sollima’s teacher, Antonio Janigro, and dedicated to Sollima’s fellow student Mario Brunello, one might have expected a deeply personal, even reflective work. It was, however, rather light, and reminded me in places of works by Max Richter, barely in the classical genre. The first movement did contain some long melodic lines but the work was neither unpleasant nor particularly demanding. The orchestra gave good support.

Then came the Dvorak. Dvorak as a concerto composer has never satisfied me as much as his fine symphonic or string quartet writing. Plainly, the orchestration is there, but the solo pieces (less so in the violin concerto) just do not seem to fit in so well, the exact opposite, for example, of Chopin. This facet of the work was exacerbated by some less than convincing playing by Sollima. The long orchestral opening of the opening Allegro was masterfully handled by the RSNO, who played their part with relish, sometimes, indeed often to the detriment of the overall balance with the soloist. Sollima did not seem particularly in command, Sondergard was standing in at short notice. The end of the first movement, much of the second and the majority of the third were a more comfortable experience. Sollima’s encore left one in no doubt as to his virtuosity.

I was looking forward to hearing Shostakovich’s Fifth Symphony again, and to see what the RSNO, in such good form this season, would make of it. They did not disappoint. Much has been said and written of the political background to the composition of this symphony under Stalin’s gaze, “A Soviet Artist’s reply to just criticism” but to me this is largely irrelevant: Shostakovich was a pragmatist, the symphony is an outstanding work and for many people its relative accessibility makes it a welcome introduction to the oeuvre of one of the twentieth century’s greatest composers.

Meticulous, sparse playing brought out all the fear and austerity suggested by the opening Moderato, quickly followed by woodwind and brass creating a marvellous, confident orchestral sound. This was just the beginning. Powerful basses and cellos introduced the subsequent Allegretto as the work grew increasingly manic. The third movement Largo was electrifying, and the Allegro non troppo finale bursting with optimism and confidence. Was this the new Russia? Who cares? The music was amazing.

 

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

—

Reviewer: Charles Stokes (Seen 18th November)

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

Too Long the Heart (The Biscuit Factory: 10 -12 Nov.’16)

Posted in Other, Theatre by
Ian Sexon as Brady from the 2013 Siege Perilous production. Photo: Nicola Garman

Ian Sexon as Brady from the 2013 Siege Perilous production.
Photo: Nicola Garman

“a low flame thriller, splintered with humour, affection, and a weighty sense of modern history”

Editorial Rating: 3 Stars Nae Bad

Inbetween the ArmaLite and the ballot box there’s some poetry, at least that’s how it is in writer David Hutchison’s reworking of Too Long the Heart (Edinburgh, 2013). In literary terms it’s Yeats with a telling fragment from Easter 1916; in a softer more lyrical vein there’s the Mountains of Mourne. We’re in Ireland, sure enough, in a freezing cold cottage in County Cork, armed with a tin of biscuits, tea, handcuffs, a heavy duty revolver and a semi-automatic pistol.

Get the picture? This is a low flame thriller, splintered with humour, affection, and a weighty sense of modern history. Split screen projection of news footage of ‘The Troubles’ – still an understatement to die for – makes the backstory all the more apparent. Bloody Sunday, the Loughgall ambush, Shoot to Kill, and ‘Historic Compromise’; they’re all here. And when it’s more introspective, there’s quiet, live music and song on cello, flute and guitar.

There are four characters gathered in this cottage. Caitlin (Cabrina Conaty) and her boyfriend Marty (Des O’Gorman) arrive first. She, for good reason, is eager and excited. Marty, a third year History under-graduate, is likeable but clueless. When it really would have been best to have their faces hidden, he doesn’t get his balaclava on in time. Nevertheless and as planned they manage to snatch an English tourist, who 30 years ago was an army captain in Belfast, and – eejit! – has come to the Republic for a spot of fishing. Neil Lawson (Steve Hay) denies it, of course, but he’s still got the haircut, the neat moustache, the tattersall shirt and real composure under fire. Maybe he was taught some Yeats at Sandhurst. Anyway, he certainly has to prove his mettle when he’s up against Brady (Ian Sexon), a Provisional IRA commander, who has some unfinished business with the British officer class.

Three years on, the script is tighter and sharper, reckons David Hutchison. The play is still being developed and the sightlines are not all they should be but it certainly cracks along under Andy Corelli’s direction and the more tense the moment, the better the action that is called for. The closing fifteen minutes in which Brady plays the police against the media is not so neat that the suspense cannot work. Up to that point it’s more a case of each character smacking against their past – or, with Yeats again, negotiating ‘the stone [that’s] in the midst of all’. The topicality of the projected imagery helps here and there’s some digital ‘doubling’ for each character to confront. Interestingly I was ‘with’ each one of them, so sympathetic is the characterisation. Brady ridding his unit of the out-and-out headcases (terrorists?) for instance. It’s Caitlin who makes the patriotic call for her beloved country of Ireland, which is ok until – unwittingly – she’s trumped by the line to ‘Take your country back’ and so I stay firmly with the Army’s riposte, if not belief, that national myths are ‘convenient evasions’. Poor Marty cannot find traditional Irish music on the radio, but then he’s more a ‘Snow Patrol’ kind of guy.

Too Long the Heart is ninety minutes of well calibrated drama. If for you ‘The Troubles’ are simply another dismal instance of ethno-nationalist conflict, then this should enliven and disturb the category.

nae bad_blue

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Alan Brown (Seen 10 November)

Visit Edinburgh49 at the Other  venue archive.

Lyceum Variety Nights (Lyceum, 6 Nov. ’16)

Posted in 5*, Events, Rated: Outstanding, Spoken Word, The Lyceum, Theatre by

“Left me genuinely begging for more”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars: Outstanding

One of the first things they teach you about writing reviews is not to gush: to keep your mass of uncontrolled instant reactions behind a dam and only let through those considered, pertinent and articulate comments that are most valuable to the reader. The Lyceum’s first variety night, however, attacked my stiff upper lip of a dam with such force as to make gushing almost inevitable, with an evening of real high quality and passionately delivered entertainment.

It feels very wrong to pass a simple two sentence judgement on each of the seven acts who graced the stage simply for the sake of wordcount – suffice to say every single one dazzled, entertained and left me, genuinely, begging for more. Author Christopher Brookmyre’s reading of a tale about a group of teenagers on an outing to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream transported us to that very place, creating wondrous magical moments; Luke Wright’s poetry had many audience members cheering before he’d even finished performing, with the gutsy IDS, a poem about Iain Duncan Smith, constructed using only words contain the vowel sound “i” being a real triumph of wordplay and wit. Jenna Watt’s excerpt from solo show Faslane beamed with all the relevance, energy and honesty of her five-star Fringe run earlier this year, and Glasgow band A New International brought the house down with some of their greatest theatrical gypsy folk pop songs, which was an uplifting and triumphant finale.

The acts themselves were all excellent – professional, well-prepared, and comfortable in the kind of setting where the audience is a bit more vocal than they might normally be. But the evening was hosted and compered by Sian Bevan and Jenny Lindsay who brought a wonderful human and sensitive likeability to their role. At times their witterings seemed a little underprepared, and it would have been nice to see them perform some of their own material, but it was easy to feel comfortable and inspired in their presence.

While pitched right in my personal sweet spot, it’s worth saying that at times the content was a little unashamedly left-leaning, and it’s a shame that there was quite a bit of similarity between some of the acts (for a real variety night I would have loved to have seen some more diverse art forms in there as well (for example: dance, art, circus, puppetry, maybe even a short film) but the relatively low-tech, one-night nature of the beast may well bring such limitations. One can only hope the format proves popular enough to make this event a more regular and extended feature within the Lyceum’s calendar.

Based on round one, I would urge anyone with any sort of passing interest in the arts to get themselves along to the next event on 26th February. I’ll be first in line.

outstanding

StarStarStarStarStar

—

Reviewer: Steve Griffin (Seen 6 November)

Visit the The Lyceum archive.

THIS REVIEW HAS NOT BEEN SUBEDITED

RSNO. Jensen. Lugansky: Usher Hall 4 Nov ’16.

Posted in 4*, Music, Rated: Unrated, Usher Hall by

nd

Image result for prokofiev

“The RSNO is maintaining an extraordinarily high standard of repertoire and performance”

Editorial Rating:  4 Stars

The RSNO’s 2016/17 season continues apace with intelligent programming and excellent playing. On Friday we also had significant added value inasmuch as we heard not one but two piano concertos, in a splendid celebration of Russian music from the first half of the 20th century.

The orchestra led off with The Enchanted Lake by Anatoli Liadov. Liadov was an enigma with a somewhat mystical approach to life as well as music, delighted to maintain that “Art is a figment, a fairy tale, a phantom. Give me a fairy tale, a dragon, a water sprite, a wood demon – give me something that is unreal, and I am happy.”  And sure enough, The Enchanted Lake follows no clear story and is an impressionistic portrait of a magical lake populated by all manner of water nymphs and wood sprites. It is a gentle piece that has evocations of Delius’s Walk to the Paradise Garden written some eight years earlier in 1901. The RSNO’s playing was suitably, lyrically, intoned as we settled comfortably in our seats.

We were rapidly shaken out of them by Nicolai Lugansky’s bravura rendition of Prokofiev’s Fifth Piano Concerto. “Nicolai has been coming to us for twenty years” one of the RSNO staffers enthusiastically told me, and it is commendable that this orchestra has such long-standing relationships with star players. Clearly this is reciprocated, because Lugansky learnt the work by heart in a week before the concert.

The work is of mixed quality and rather bitty. Five movements in twenty-five minutes, but only the last two are of any substance. There is far more “music” in the first concerto, a 15-minute work but less slender, which came after the interval. Nonetheless Lugansky took hold of it, easily disposing of its demanding notation, with the orchestra providing enthusiastic support. The fourth movement Larghetto was the most melodic, at least at the start until it built into a strong climax. The fifth, appropriately named Vivo, provided a lively conclusion.

After the interval the indomitable Lugansky appeared again for  Prokofiev’s First Piano Concerto, the more rounded one. This 15-minute tour de force is an object lesson in less means more, and much as I enjoy the other four concerti this one stirs me most. From its confident three chord brass opening in D flat major the piano and orchestra belted out the near frantic theme in unison until the orchestra took off on its own with the soloist following in a series of bravura passages, pausing only for a few minutes’ reflection in the second section of what is really a one-movement work. It was a joyride: taut, together, highly effective orchestral playing under the confident and relaxed baton of Eivind Gullberg Jensen, with soloist Lubansky clearly a master of his art. The theme sang out again when the pace returned in the third section and ended in a blaze of glory with the addition of glockenspiel.

The evening was brought to a close by Rachmaninov’s Third Symphony, premiered in 1936 by no less than Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra, and by a short head the most recently composed piece of the evening. Rachmaninov was a master of the romantic genre and this work is close to film music, and none the worse for it. However, unlike the utterly romantic Second Symphony with its long melodic lines, this pleasing work is full of thematic variations that never really go anywhere, so you are subjected to a series of treats rather than an enveloping whole. The RSNO were completely at home with it, from the opening cello solo (the first movement is all down to the cellos), through the wistful horn and harp opening of the second, concluding with the zestful Allegro with the orchestra giving everything it had got. This is a more reflective, even introspective work than the second symphony, which nonetheless, and notwithstanding the stature of the second symphony, contains some of the most expressive and romantic classical music ever written.

The RSNO is maintaining an extraordinarily high standard of repertoire and performance, worthy of its pedigree and 125th Year Anniversary.

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Charles Stokes (Seen 4 November)

Go to the Royal Scottish National Orchestra

Visit Edinburgh49‘s Usher Hall archive.

SCO.Ticciati. Ortega Quero. (Usher Hall: 3 Nov.’16)

Posted in 4*, Music, Rated: Nae Bad, Usher Hall by

bruckner4

“This was a genuinely fresh approach to the Bruckner symphony”

Editorial Rating: 4 Stars: Nae Bad

The publicity for Thursday’s SCO gig at the Usher Hall intrigued me. I am a junkie for late Romantic music and for me the period 1850-1950 is the most exciting in classical music. Richard Strauss and Anton Bruckner are among my favourite composers and the SCO under conductor Robin Ticciati is approaching world class status. But a Chamber Orchestra playing a Bruckner symphony? This was something that had to be experienced.

I was pretty certain the SCO could bring off the Oboe Concerto by Richard Strauss. It is a beautiful work that sits comfortably within the Chamber genre, completely in contrast with his earlier works or subsequent dramatic Four Last Songs; so it is a bit of a one-off. The whole piece sat together well, the orchestra demonstrating real fluency of playing in support of the very demanding solo part. Ramon Ortega Quero handled the extraordinarily long passages (no less than 57 solo bars in the opening sequence) with sub aquatic breathing skill and faultless phrasing, and coaxed a beautiful tone out of his difficult instrument. Forgive me, but I could not help but remember my mother telling a story of a young oboist she went out with at university. His lips, as demonstrated in his kissing, were of a muscular versatility not since experienced. One of the benefits no doubt of a super competent embouchure.

We were treated to a thoroughly polished, relaxed performance of a rather intimate work that in particular demonstrated fine string playing and a conductor getting all that he wanted from his band with minimal apparent effort.

But the real test was to come.

What happens when a chamber orchestra tackles an orchestral behemoth? Ticciati has gone on record as saying “We need to scrape back the veneers” and “reveal the work in new colours”. This they did, although I do concede that the orchestra was beefed up to maximum strength. What they brought to Bruckner’s 4th Symphony was an astonishing clarity along with a seemingly relaxed approach that allowed the music to speak for itself, rather than  suffering the relentless drive of some other conductors. Ticciati’s body language and general demeanour suggested he could have been conducting Haydn or Mozart. So relaxed!

An eerie, breathtaking entry by the double basses in the Bewegt nicht zu schell followed by the winsome horn solo morphed into our first treat of full-on Bruckner brass. Ticciati, restrained, holding back, but not quite teasing, built the perfect climax. I have rarely heard such delicacy or clarity in orchestral Bruckner. Clever stuff!

The Andante, quasi allegretto gave us another very gentle pianissimo opening leading to the violas taking up the theme supported by pizzicato violins and cellos. We were being reminded of the SCO’s impeccable chamber orchestra credentials. There soon followed some of the best brass passages ever written and towards the end we were at last in “wild Bruckner” territory with the whole orchestra playing in apparent wilful abandon, but in fact right on the button, until we returned to a reflective pizzicato coda.

In the Sherzo; Bewegt haunting brass led us off with some very clean playing ending in a resounding conclusion.

Finally the Finale of the fourth movement: again, Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell. After another plaintive horn call there was no shortage of brass and then the full orchestra gave us everything we wanted and took us home. I am delighted to report that the Usher Hall audience did not burst into applause immediately but waited until Ticciati had lowered his hand after some ten seconds, and gave him four curtain calls.

So the experiment worked. This was a genuinely fresh approach to the Bruckner symphony. I got clarity, freshness and an unstrained, natural and not too over intense approach that let the music speak for itself. Now, perhaps, for the same approach to the more difficult 6th or 8th.

nae bad_blue

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Charles Stokes (Seen 3 November)

Go the Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Visit Edinburgh49‘s Usher Hall archive.

Grain in the Blood (Traverse: 1 – 12 Nov.’16)

Posted in 5*, Rated: Nae Bad, Theatre, Traverse by
l to r: Frances Thorburn (Violet), Sarah Miele, Andrew Rothney, John Michie, Blythe Duff. Photos: Mihaela Bodlovic

l to r: Frances Thorburn (Violet), Sarah Miele, Andrew Rothney, John Michie, Blythe Duff.
Photos: Mihaela Bodlovic

“This hair-trigger of a play”

Editorial Rating: 5 Stars: Nae Bad

What is it about valleys? There’s the BBC’s Happy Valley and Edward Norton in Down in the Valley, also far from ‘happy’, and – seminally – there’s the Valley of the Shadow of Death, which is as good a place as any in which to locate Rob Drummond’s latest enthralling work. Once upon a time, ‘for hundreds of years in the valley everything was just so’, but then the thanksgiving poetry ran out, like blood. Time now, then, for a spell of compassionate release.

That’s the hope anyway, and it is hope that supports Sophia, whose grand-daughter Autumn, needs a kidney transplant if she is to live much beyond her twelfth birthday. Isaac, Sophia’s grown son, has it in him to help but naturally, dramatically, it is not as easy as that. In fact, after 85 minutes, it has all still to be decided, either by the words of a child terribly wise beyond her years or out of the barrels of a 12 bore shotgun. Orla O’Loughlin’s direction respects this hair-trigger of a play right to its showdown.

The action rises over 3½ days, counted as ‘three sleeps’ by Autumn, who is brat reporter and ancient Chorus combined. She knows the ‘Verses of the Harvest’ by heart and the rhythmic invocation of the Grain Mother as provider of health and happiness- sad joke –  sounds solemn and serious, ‘even though She doesn’t fucking exist’. That’s the thing about Autumn (Sarah Miele): she has that unnerving sacrilegious streak that adults can’t manage.

So, there is proper tension down on the farm. There’s even a game of ‘Truth or Dare?’ that contains the greatest reveal of them all, which is wickedly ironic as Isaac (Andrew Rothney) is described as ‘low risk’. Sophia (Blythe Duff) needs to believe that assessment whilst Burt (John Michie), is there as the phlegmatic companion to threatening circumstance. These two play out a nice challenge of ‘Would you kill scumbags to save your daughter?’, which just digs deeper into the disturbing, teasing, ethical dilemmas that Drummond delights in. Go to his Uncanny Valley for starters.

grain-in-the-blood-2

The remote rural location is part of the piece. Where better to unearth the unsettling and the rooted? The harvest moon can glint off Isaac’s blade and there’s the suffering of Auntie Violet’s horse to put alongside Sophia’s claim that ‘We’re all animals’, which might be what her veterinary practice has taught her. Her house is modern, of machined and polished wood, where you might expect low ceilings, wood smoke and warped timbers. The spare, snappy dialogue and careful movement suits the space, whose back wall slides away to show Autumn’s bed with its blood drip stand, or the barn, site of an earlier, bloodier horror. Introducing classical tragedy for our times, anyone?

Intrigued? You should be, because this is fascinating theatre, still and severe in its way, but emotionally resonant, well-focused and very well performed.

nae bad_blue

Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)Star (blue)

Reviewer: Alan Brown  (Seen 1 November)

Go to Grain in the Blood at the Traverse

Visit Edinburgh49‘s Traverse archive