Royal Scottish National Orchestra/joana Carneiro, Philippe Quint
With two 21st-century pieces on the programme – one a UK premiere, the other a first Scottish outing – plus a classic from the early 20th century, it was hardly surprising, though a shame all the same, that the audience was so thin for the RSNO’S concert under Portuguese-born powerhouse Joana Carneiro. It was a particular shame, though, since the orchestra was on such exceptional form under Carneiro’s eager, fearsomely focused direction. They were lustrous and glittering in the sometimes hilariously overthe-top Nyx by Esa-pekka Salonen (getting its Scottish premiere). The piece seemed to glory in its own excess, but nonetheless got all the straight-faced conviction it needed from a demanding, driven Carneiro and the RSNO players. At times it
might have been a John Williams film score after several tabs of acid. There was similar vividness in Stravinsky’s Petrushka that closed the concert: Carneiro’s musical storytelling ensured that every one of the composer’s sonic illustrations hits its mark, though her sometimes relentless energy meant there wasn’t always time to fully take them. Nonetheless, she kept the RSNO players firmly on their toes, and the result was an account that was fresh and sometimes deliciously raw.
Bookended by such colour and activity, and by such
deft ways of using them, Errollyn Wallen’s new Violin Concerto – getting its first UK performance from its dedicatee, US violinist Philippe Quint – sounded perplexingly grey at times, its unpredictable orchestral hues from shifting smaller groups as broad as its styles and references, from clangorous bells to yearning melody to James Last-style lounge pop. There was no denying Quint’s unwavering passion, conviction and sheer sustained energy, however, nor his laser-like focus on conveying Wallen’s eclectic references.