Symphony Orchestra of India/brabbins
Usher Hall, Edinburgh Keith Bruce
I WAS one of a few people in the privileged position to make a comparison, but hearing Martyn Brabbins conduct the Symphony Orchestra of India in the Usher Hall having seen the partnership rehearse and play much of the same programme at their home in Mumbai’s National Centre for the Performing Arts was to appreciate the bloom the venue adds to fine playing.
From the very start – and Weber’s Oberon Overture is a fine opening showpiece for the whole orchestra, there was a sparkle to the horns and brass that seemed missing previously.
If this programme had particular stars among the orchestra, they were principal clarinet Arnoldus Van
Houtert, who had a very busy night, and orchestra leader Adelina Hasani, who also plies her trade in Europe in the Low Countries, and who played the solos in Rimsky-korsakov’s Scheherazade with an eloquence that was placed in exactly the right dynamic context against the orchestra.
It was the work I had not heard in India and Brabbins paced it beautifully, with the opening boldly slow and proceeding in a manner that was always measured and musical rather than high octane, and culminated with a wonderful intensity to the coda.
The orchestra’s music director
Marat Bisengaliev was the soloist for the Bruch Violin Concerto No 1, only Cardiff having taken his alternative – and arguably more intriguing – offering of the Third Concerto by Saint-saens during the orchestra’s inaugural UK tour.
Although I have heard the Bruch played rather faster, Bisengaliev revealed a much meatier work than it often seems as a showpiece for rather younger players.
If a touring orchestra is often remembered for its encores, the violinist and the conductor knew exactly which buttons to press here.
The Karl Jenkins enthusiast was joined by flautist Shirish Malhotra for The Wooing of Etain from Adiemus before the interval, while Brabbins tried to heal the previous day’s rugby wounds by bringing the afternoon to a close with Elgar’s Salut d’amour.