Music
BBC SSO/Dausgaard
Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Keith Bruce
****
IT is perhaps debatable what precisely conductor Thomas Dausgaard’s Composer Roots programme about the Jewish influence on Mahler’s First Symphony taught us, but it certainly contained a lot of enjoyable and fascinating music.
The performance of the symphony itself was very fine indeed, and while the folk elements are unmissable, there was also a clear sense of how it was the template for much of the symphonic writing that followed from the composer, with the finale containing the seeds of the heart-breaking slow movement of the Fifth, for example. Dausgaard singled out the basses, guest-led by the SCO’s Nikita Naumov for a section bow, but Alberto Menendez Escribano’s seven horns were as worthy of special mention.
The work was preceded by the appearance, stage left, of Paul Moylan’s klezmer ensemble She’koyokh, playing the bassist’s “musings” on Mahler’s music, Klez’Mahler. In the Usher Hall the instrumental sextet was occasionally swamped by the sound of the orchestral instruments, particularly the brass, but the dialogue between the clarinets of Susi Evans and Yann Ghiro was very effective, as was the band’s exit segueing into the opening of the Mahler, with the offstage brass soon audible from the wings on the other side.
Ernest Bloch’s Schelomo: Rhapsodie Hebraique is a curious narrative work that gives notice that it is aware of the full expressive range of the cello as a solo instrument in its opening bars, and then subordinates it to the might of the orchestra, with two harps and powerful brass, and bass clarinet and contrabassoon in full flow. The concerto-like elements later reassert themselves - especially at its conclusion - and Jian Wang is a very fine, passionate, exponent of the piece.
It was preceded in the concert’s first half by Bernstein’s Overture to his opera Candide. It is not the most “Jewish” of his compositions, but one of the most exciting, and very familiar to these musicians. Even so, Dausgaard seemed to find an extra gear for the performance here, which was very pacey and powerful.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel