Classical review: Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Sir Charles Mackerras

Published on Sunday 17 January 2010 21:51

GLASGOW CITY HALLS ****

MOZART'S Haffner Symphony No35 was a lop-sided affair. The first movement's whirling festivities were halted time and again by brief yet stirring passages of contemplation. The Andante, with repeats included, threatened to overwhelm the short Minuet and Trio, leaving only a jittery Presto. Luckily, conductor Sir Charles MacKerras knew exactly how to handle Mozart's work, playing to the complexities and emphasising the contrasts to craft a quirky but curiously intense rendition.

Richard Strauss's music for Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme is also premised on such contrasts. Recalling musical styles of the 17th and 18th centuries, Strauss's suite narrates a mixed-up story of preparations for a grand dinner. From the bustling overture to the lulling intermezzo, each of the short pieces packs in allusions and quotations enough to furnish an entire symphony.

However, the SCO couldn't seem to find the thread that might have brought together these disparate movements. There was plenty to be savoured: the swaggering brass motif in The Fencing Master, the double bass countermelody in the Minuet of Lully, all of guest leader Bradley Creswick's solos. But as a whole, the disjointed performance lost energy as it progressed.

No such criticism could be levelled at Radovan Vlatkovic, soloist in Strauss's Horn Concerto. The apparent ease of the more virtuosic passages was nothing compared with the tenderness of the slower passages. Weaving his silky tone in and out of the orchestral accompaniment, he proved there can be no substitute for simplicity of interpretation and uncomplicated talent.