Classical review: RSNO

Published on Sunday 22 November 2009 22:12

ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA *** GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL

A FULL programme of Rachmaninov has the potential to overload the senses, but in this case the balance was about right. Bulgarian conductor Rossen Milanov began with the Symphony No 1 – a lesson in motivic intensity if ever there was one – and followed it after the interval with the composer's iridescent choral setting of Edgar Alan Poe's poem The Bells.

The latter produced the most convincing results, largely due to the fuller engagement of the RSNO, to characterful singing by the RSNO Chorus and to a line-up of soloists – soprano Zvetelina Maldjanska, tenor Sergey Romanovska and bass Jonathan Lemalu – who took it in turn to unfold the contrasting moods evoked in Poe's metaphoric sequence.

Romanovska may have seemed a little underpowered in the "silver bells" opening, but there was an alluring delicacy in his lightweight approach. Maldjanska – a substitute for the originally billed soprano – hit the nail on the head with a molten intensity that perfectly evoked the "balmy air" of the second movement. Lemalu made his appearance in the finale, filling its mournful measures with powerful, yet restrained nobility.

The one recurring flaw was a tendency for Milanov to confuse the RSNO with rather fussy-looking gestures. At least that's how it seemed, both visually and in resulting orchestral entries that were palpably nervous.

That was a critical factor in undermining the total success of the First Symphony, not least in the opening bars, where complete confidence in the opening flourish sets the standard for its literal and mutated recurrences throughout the work.

That said, where momentum was vigorously established, Milanov held a firmer grip.