Brevity the key as RSNO puts on a performance to savour

The length of a piece of music can be just as important as its content. Sometimes you think a composer has seized on something special then he either decides enough is enough and stops short on development or goes off on a totally different tangent. Then sometimes a work is the perfect length that leaves nothing more to be said.

Brevity was the name of the game at Thursday’s Royal Scottish National Orchestra concert in the Caird Hall, at the same time not diminishing the overall enjoyment.

Liadov’s The Enchanted Lake was the prefect length, and he needed only a few minutes to paint an exquisite picture. Russian impressionism? Think Debussy and you get an idea of the musical imagery the composer generates.

The undulating upper strings creates a rippling of water, underpinned by a deep bass which reflects the water’s depth.

Liadov needed to add little more, but with Prokofiev’s piano concerti you are left with something of a conundrum. His fifth is five movements long, but lasts a mere 25 or so minutes. I would have preferred he had elaborated on certain movements and added another 10 or so minutes.

One might be nit-picking here, but there wasn’t the slightest cause to complain about the performance of pianist Nikolai Lugansky.

He has the perfect percussive precision needed for these works, his hands a blur as he covered the octaves with skill, flair and showmanship.

Rachmaninov’s third symphony concluded the proceedings, and the composer’s broad, luscious canvases contrasted with Prokofiev’s reluctance to expand.

It might not be his most melodic work but there is warmth, depth of colour and marvellous orchestral construction. I thought conductor Eivind Jensen’s interpretation was succinct, the orchestra’s performance perfect.