The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
Caird Hall, Dundee, April 28
Next Thursday sees something of a coup for Dundee audiences.
The programmes for visits to Dundee by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra are normally carbon copies of succeeding concerts in Edinburgh and Glasgow but this is a one-off, a specially-tailored concert for Dundee audiences.
Principal cellist Aleksei Kiseliov will be performing the Dvorak cello concerto, one of the greats of the concerto repertoire and having heard him perform the Elgar concerto last year in Perth, I know we are in for another magical example of musicmaking.
Indeed, strangely enough, it might be even better as the Czech’s music seems to fit in better to Aleksei’s psyche.
“One particular challenge that I had to face was to perform Elgar in the UK,“he says.
“Being Russian, I think Dvorak’s Slavic music is closer to my culture than Elgar’s.
“And I have been working on it for 15 years, while I have only worked on the Elgar for eight.
“This doesn’t mean that I like Dvorak more than Elgar.
“Both are amazing masterpieces and at the top of the music repertoire.”
Like many musicians of his high standing, music played a big part in Aleksei’s early life.
“I started to play cello when I was five and a half,” he continues, “and it is because of my father, who is a violinist.
“He practised with me in addition to the lessons I received with my cello teacher until I was 12.
“My mum played piano when she was at school, so I was also fortunate to have an accompanist during my early years.”
Aleksei was appointed principal cellist with the RSNO in 2011 and though he relishes his day-to-day job with the orchestra, the lure of a concerto something he couldn’t turn down.
“I cannot live without playing solo, chamber music or concertos with an orchestra,” he says.
“This is the way I am and I am very grateful to the RSNO for giving me this opportunity to perform as a soloist.”
On either side of the concerto are two works of complete opposites, Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements and Schubert’s third symphony, with conductor Thomas Sondergard in charge of proceedings.
The first work was Stravinsky’s first composition after emigrating to the United States during World War Two.
He called it his “war symphony” as it was direct response to events that were happening the world over.
The Schubert work is of approximately the same length – 25 minutes or so – and might have identical energy but is of a more joyous, bubbly nature. is