Music
RSNO/Chan
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Keith Bruce
five stars
AS THE large audience at the concert hall on Saturday would suggest is already widely appreciated, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra has made a very astute appointment in Elim Chan to succeed Thomas Sondergard as Principal Guest Conductor. Joined by pianist Benjamin Grosvenor, still in his mid-20s, as soloist for the concerto in this programme, the 31-year-old brings youthful vitality to the podium as well as an astute musicality that was abundantly evident in her direction of Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances.
There will be plenty of opportunity to assess her affinity with this composer next year as she conducts two of the piano concertos with the RSNO and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland, and her handling of the orchestral colour of the score here was quite masterly.
The way Kyle Horch’s alto sax emerged from among the winds in the opening movement and the precise level of Duncan Swindell’s bass clarinet there and in the finale were examples of the precision dynamic detail, but it was the opening of the slow waltz in the middle that really captured the poise of this performance, the muted brass, strings and flute paving the way for leader Sharon Roffman’s exquisite solo violin.
For all that Chopin’s Piano Concerto No 2 is all about the soloist, there was an ensemble feel to it as well, with Chan almost visibly passing the baton for tempo to Grosvenor in the second movement, but more assertive on either side of that, and the pianist sparing his elegant rubato until that time. There was a fine spare elegance to the string playing here as well, and a playfulness from all parties in the sprightly dance of the finale, typified in the horn heralding the very last bars.
Opening with the bassoon-featuring Sorcerer’s Apprentice by Paul Dukas was an appropriate taster for the orchestral riches to follow after the interval and early evidence of Chan’s rhythmic precision. Would the composer have a place in the popular repertoire without the help of Mickey Mouse in Walt Disney’s Fantasia? Surely another example of the value that comes from youthful experience.
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