United Kingdom Bartók, Anna Clyne, Chopin: Eric Lu (pianist), BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra / Tito Muñoz (conductor), City Halls, Glasgow, 27.10.2022 (GT)
Anna Clyne – This Midnight Hour
Chopin – Piano Concerto in E minor, Op.11
Bartók – Concerto for Orchestra, Sz.116
The American composer Anna Clyne’s music has turn out to be a daily characteristic in Scotland’s musical scene as she has been Associate Composer with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, nonetheless she has nonetheless to search out her personal expression with completely different influences characterising her finely crafted music. This Midnight Hour dates from 2015 and was written for the Orchestre nationwide d’Île-de-France when she was the resident composer.
In this piece, Clyne takes as her inspiration Baudelaire’s ‘Harmonie du soir’ by which she makes use of the 4 stanzas to evoke a night spent in erotic anticipation. There can also be a single stanza from the twentieth-century Spanish poet Juan Ramón Jiménez about ‘a woman running nakedly mad through the pure night’ by which the composer makes an attempt to evoke a visible journey’. The opening bars had been engaging and finely performed on the strings with a honeyed toned concord within the woodwind resulting in an exotically customary orchestral image. The music was nicely orchestrated with superb writing for these woodwind and strings, but whereas it’s alluring, it doesn’t final in a single’s reminiscence for too lengthy. Before the shut, there emerged a melancholy waltz by which the violas evoked the sound of a avenue accordion, and as a coup de théâtre, the 2 trumpets of Hedley Benson and Mark Calder made their approach offstage to the rear gallery to carry The Midnight Hour to an exciting shut. Certainly, this nearly cinematic piece is value listening to once more, and hopefully we shall be listening to extra of Clyne’s music right here in Scotland.
The 2018 Leeds Piano Competition winner Eric Lu solely arrived right here the day earlier than this live performance because the initially booked Russian pianist Zlata Chochieva cancelled her engagement owing to the present issues travelling from Russia. This was along with the conductor Joanna Carneiro cancelling at late discover. That this live performance was in a position to nonetheless current top-class performers is exceptional.
The American conductor Tito Muñoz had already proven his expertise within the opening piece, and he has a dynamic, energetic fashion bringing out all of the intricacy of the composer’s concepts. In the Chopin concerto, he drew out all the fantastic thing about the prolonged orchestral introduction with superb taking part in particularly from the strings. Eric Lu offered splendidly assured keyboard taking part in evincing all of the poetry of the rating. The orchestra had been a bit listless of their accompaniment and maybe highlighted the weak orchestration of the work. In the Larghetto, the strings had been too relaxed, but the American pianist provided fantastically intimate taking part in and fantastic intonation. In the Rondo finale, contrasting with the fairly surly chords from the low strings, the brilliant vibrant harmonies from Lu had been characterised by rhapsodically flowing notes serving to ship an effervescent and joyful climax.
In his pre-concert interview, the American conductor talked concerning the ‘mysterious sounds’ of Bartók’s remaining masterpiece and commented that the composer was maybe ‘depressed from the wars’ and that ‘night music is something personal to him’ and that he was nonetheless ‘experimenting with different pitches’. Muñoz has been conductor of the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra for 9 years and definitely he has nice expertise each in North America and in Europe and based mostly on this efficiency he absolutely shall be showing right here commonly.
The Allegro opened darkly with the pentatonic theme on the low strings evoking the evening, earlier than a magical passage from the solo flute of Matthew Higham because the theme handed to the violins earlier than we heard the flute once more and a passage sounding as if coming from the depths of Hungarian folks legend. Notable was a passage on the strings suggesting – in equal measure – angst and menace. Here Muñoz introduced out all of the darkness of this music displaying this orchestra on prime kind. This was characterised notably by the woodwind invocation of Hungarian folks music and accentuated by the aspect drum. It all aptly demonstrated the conductor’s exact switches of feelings and harmonies of Bartók’s rating.
I additionally preferred the depth of color that was introduced out by Muñoz within the strings and the woodwind, with the flutes and the piccolo of Luke Russell significantly magical earlier than a hushed passage within the strings. In the fourth motion (Intermezzo) the oboe of Stella McCracken launched an enthralling folk-like thought heralding the Lehár/Shostakovich brass citation (albeit Muñoz urged it might have been the composer quoting Looney Tunes which was widespread within the US in the course of the conflict). The passage was distinguished by one other lovely flute solo from Higham. In the finale, brilliant sunshine emerged because the orchestra stormed at nice velocity to the concerto’s finish with occasional impolite blasts from the brass in opposition to the charming woodwind and the reprise of the folks theme. The trumpets of Benson and Calder invoked a splendid chorale earlier than the just about jazz-inspired strings theme entered the race to the thrilling fruits.
This was a wonderful live performance with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra on prime kind and augers nicely for the remainder of the season right here in Glasgow.
Gregor Tassie