Classical review: Scottish Chamber Orchestra Wind Ensemble

Published on Wednesday 25 November 2009 19:11

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA WIND ENSEMBLE ST CUTHBERT'S PARISH CHURCH, EDINBURGH * * *

AS PART of the early evening Cl@six series Unwind, this programme gave the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's excellent wind section a chance to show their form with conductor Joan Enric Lluna.

In both Richard Strauss and Dvorak's works, the spirit of Mozart's Gran Partita for 13 wind instruments is clearly evident. The boisterous march which opens Dvorak's Wind Serenade in D minor Opus 44 for wind instruments cello and bass is driven by the pumped up sound of the bassoon and contrabassoon. This Slavic-accented theme returns to close the piece, emerging from a lively dance passage. In between, the ensemble had fun playing the delightfully dizzy central section of the minuet and the more serene nocturne, with the clarinet and oboe melodies floating over a gently rocking cello line.

Dvorak wrote his piece in just two weeks and the 20-year-old Richard Strauss also appeared to be in a hurry with his Suite in B-flat major Opus 4, which perhaps accounts for some of the inconsistencies in style. He had already dashed off the first two movements when he remembered he had been asked to write a baroque work.

Although the gavotte adopts the conventional form, the sparkling clarinet solo that soars above the four horns that ground this piece is completely unrestrained. Unfortunately, so, too, was the three-movements-in-one finale, which was a bit of a guddle as Lluna appeared unable to control the fugal sections and frequent changes of tempo.