Review: RSNO - Edinburgh Usher Hall

By CARLA WHALEN
Published on Monday 13 February 2012 00:00

WANT to know the recipe for true romance? The Royal Scottish National Orchestra would suggest a dish of familiar favourites served lukewarm and chopped into bite-sized chunks

The orchestra’s Valentine’s offering featured no fewer than six works, all suitably pleasant in sentiment yet overwhelmingly deficient in what might be termed the passion stakes.

It took a worrying couple of minutes for Ravel’s La valse to find its feet; coughs and sniffles in the audience were matched by hiccoughs and splutters in the orchestra as Christian Kluxen coaxed the players into action. But the strings found their stride before long and their muted melodies moved along with all the luxuriant ease and vintage glamour of the silver screen.

The ensemble’s performance of Puccini’s La bohême Fantasy, as well as Mascagni’s Intermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana for that matter, could be summarised in precisely the same way; when it comes to old-fashioned, large-scale romance, the RSNO have it nailed, but when a work calls for precision, momentum and the odd surge of exuberance, the group continually struggles.

There was no mistaking the difference when soloist Simone Dinnerstein joined the orchestra in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.21. Her interpretation was broad and optimistic, confident and (almost a little too) voluble – every motif bubbled with personality. Even in the midst of the indulgent, sustained phrases of the well-known Andante, Dinnerstein pushed the music forwards; her committed style highlighting the depths of the notes while simultaneously reaching outwards with longing and direction. In terms of passion, nothing else came close.

Rating: ***

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