Classical review: BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra/Andrew Manze - Glasgow City Halls

WITH the Nielsen violin concerto out of the programme at short notice, soloist Akiko Suwanai’s performance of the Sibelius Concerto for Violin came to be sandwiched between Two English Idylls by Butterworth and Beethoven’s Sixth.

Though the last-minute switch scuppered the planned “1911” theme, it did nothing to harm the success of the evening and it was remarkable to note how certain emotional resonances reared up in all three works.

Butterworth was a collector of English folksong and the Idylls are a patchwork of familiar-sounding melodies. Conductor Andrew Manze seemed to appreciate that it is from this nostalgic familiarity that the work gains its power; accompanied by a string sound that had both depth and delicacy, the richness of the woodwind in its lower registers bathed the work in a sunset hue.

The same goes for his direction in the Beethoven, which is pastoral by name but rarely so bucolic as under Manze. The straight-edged elegance of the phrasing, the unanimity of the dynamic colouring, the care taken over each solo – all articulated the aching pleasure of nostalgia.

Book-ended in this way, Suwanai’s Sibelius was as evocative as it could have been. With a rare ability to combine precision and long-bowed resonance, Suwanai is an obvious match for this serious work. But with the support of an orchestra playing at the top of its game, a programme emphasising the emotional over the technical, and perhaps even the exhilaration of the last-minute engagement, hers was a performance that reached deep into the heart of the music.

Rating: *****