Classical review: RSNO: Oundjian conducts Shostakovich, Usher Hall, Edinburgh

I’D LIKE to think, in his hair-raising performance of Shostakovich’s “Symphony No11”, that Peter Oundjian set the benchmark for his tenure as new musical director of the RSNO, which began officially last night.

RSNO: Oundjian conducts Shostakovich

Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Star rating: * * * * *

It had a touch of the theatrical, Oundjian setting the scene in dimmed lighting, reading from a prepared script that outlined the harrowing narrative of a work symbolising the stark anticipation of the 1905 Russian uprising and the violent massacre of the ensuing Bloody Sunday, but in all reality reflecting the brutality of the 1956 Hungarian invasion, which the composition of the symphony coincided with.

As for the performance, it was gripping from start to finish. When have we witnessed such visceral, machine-gun immediacy from the RSNO? When did we last hear the strings play with such compelling unanimity? In the space of over an hour, and chillingly enhanced by choreographed lighting, Oundjian asserted his will on the symphony, from the aching emptiness of the opening, through the grotesque horror of the massacre, to the stillness of the lament, and finally the screaming belligerence of its overwhelming climax.

That same sense of instant rapport with the musicians lit up a racy performance of Glinka’s overture “Russlan and Ludmilla”, but more especially Tchaikovsky’s “Violin Concerto”, in which animated soloist Vadim Gluzman and Oundjian fed off each other like a veteran double act. Interesting times ahead.