Classical review: RSNO

Published on Sunday 11 October 2009 22:24

ROYAL SCOTTISH NATIONAL ORCHESTRA **** GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL

A FEW weeks ago the RSNO opened its pre-season taster programme – Classic Bites – with a performance of Bernstein's Candide overture that was so fast and hairy, it left the listener (and possibly the players) with the concert equivalent of the bends. A further snippet – the middle section of Strauss's Oboe Concerto – was also there, uncomfortably amputated from its complete self.

The mischief was undone this weekend in the quirky, balletic hands (and feet) of the quixotic Kristjan Jrvi. His Candide sat at the perfect pace: swift and breezy, but harnessed to perfection. And Jrvi's ongoing spree through the wild eccentricities and sentimental indulgences of the concert suite from the opera added sauce to the meat.

In contrast, the complete Richard Strauss concerto – with French-born RSNO principal oboist Emmanuel Laville in the hot spot – offered a timeless journey into the intimate side of this beguiling composer.

In any other hands, Brahms's Symphony No 1 would have brought us down to earth with a thump. But Jrvi chose a loose-shackled approach, which just occasionally caught the players off-guard. The upside was a performance loaded with surprises.

Jrvi was clearly enjoying himself. So did we.