On the heavy side
Hamish Clark a petite Victor, with an arresting Scottish-bulgarian accent.
And if the four of them never quite weld into the inspired ensemble that Simon at his best demands, then that’s perhaps
Bazaar, had to be replaced by more Beethoven, rather aptly the turmoil and tragedy expressed in the Coriolan Overture.
Yet the towering presence of Beethoven seemed in tune with our current predicament. Here was a figure, racked with multiple physical torment, prone to violent extremes of temperament, but somehow capable of rising above that with music of transcendent hope.
So there was something inexplicably profound in the defiant opening chords of Coriolan and in the pleading lyricism of its “Volumnia” theme, which conductor Thomas Søndergård gave time and space to in an acoustic paradoxically warmed by the lack of people.
The Stravinsky spoke potently too, only here as suppressed defiance, expressed in the emotional containment of the choral settings and the acid precision of the orchestration.
No holding back the heroic resilienceoftheemperorconcerto, Kim’s pianism assertive and expansive with thought not surprising; at a moment when to raise the spirit of light comedy
KENNETH WALTON
JOYCE MCMILLAN
given to every note, Søndergård again using the acoustical bounce to maximise its unpredictable, yet unshakeable logic.
Glasgow St Luke’s ✪✪✪
The late Mark E Smith famously claimed “if it’s me and your granny on bongos, it’s The Fall”. As founder and sole permanent member of The Lightning Seeds, Liverpool legend Ian Broudie might have cause to make a similar claim, although it appeared from the mostly fresh-faced current touring line-up of the outfit that it was Broudie and your grandkids on bass.
The first half of the show was given over to a 25th anniversary celebration of The Lightning Seeds’ third album, Jollification, home to a sterling selection of advert-friendly earworms. demands some heavy lifting, and the effort is not always easy to disguise.
● Pitlochry Festival Theatre until 29 March; and Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 3-25 April.
Broudie and his eight-piece young team performed under a giant spinning strawberry, in reference to the album cover. It was a playful move which set the tone for two sets of robust likeable Indie pop tunes.
Broudie is now in his early 60s but there is an eternally youthful quality to his timeless tunes and light timbre which speaks of carefree optimism, as exemplified at the climax of the first set by the blithe, if bittersweet Lucky You. Easily palatable though this was, there was more of a frisson to Broudie’s soulful androgynous vocals on the dreamy, proggy Telling Tales.
The second half of the evening was given over to hits and favourites from the rest of the Seeds’ catalogue, including their shimmering cover of The Turtles’ You Showed Me , a joyous and righteous rocking rendition of Wreckless Eric’s Whole Wide World , the charged-up Sugar Coated Iceberg and debut hit Pure, a consummate slice of Scouse indie pop for which there was much love in the room.
FIONA SHEPHERD