SCO: Travels in Eastern Europe

The sizeable cross-section of Edinburgh society which fills the Queen’s Hall tonight seems to have been caught in a bit of a headlock by the SCO. The temptation of Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto coupled with his renowned Prague Symphony is too much to resist, though it comes with some exciting small print in the form of György Ligeti’s Ramifications and Bartók’s Rumanian Folk Dances. It has long been one of the SCO’s tricks to tie the classics to the more accessible 20th-century, but tonight’s programme, under the baton of new principal conductor Robin Ticciati, seems to widen that gap and the result is a marked success.

Ramifications makes an exciting, if unsettling start to the evening. The work, composed in the late 1960s, creates an array of different effects from the build up of hundreds of tiny fragments, with the sound created filling the entire hall. Mozart’s Bassoon Concerto generally tends to suffer in the shadow of his other wind concertos, but this performance shows the true excitement and humour of the work. Soloist Peter Whelan demonstrates exceptional articulation and tone, and the slow movement in particular comes across beautifully. The balance between Whelan and the orchestra seems perfect. Béla Bartók’s exhilarating work Rumanian Folk Dances is a whirlwind of excitement that finishes all too quickly. The orchestra clearly revels in the work’s folk qualities and unexpected harmonies giving what is undeniably the most exciting performance of the evening.

Mozart’s Prague Symphony is a huge contrast to the dances in its style and length. As such, the work is often in danger of becoming too drawn-out. Tonight though, the orchestra make their intention clear from the outset. The unity within sections is as crisp as it should be in music of this period and balance between sections is admirable. This is unsurprising since the orchestra’s recording of the piece was awarded Disc of the Year 2009 by the BBC music awards. One can only hope that tonight’s contemporary repertoire will gather the same interest and that future performances of 20^th century works draw similar crowds.