Classical review: SCO/Jonathan Biss, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh

IT’S quite something when a conductor can make a fairly lightweight work sound like a masterpiece.

Which is exactly what visiting Czech conductor Jakub Hruša did with the Czech Suite by his compatriot Dvorák, in a gleaming account from the SCO. It might be not much more than a sequence of rustic-sounding dances and folksy tunes, but Hruša’s sure-footed direction brought a freshness and vivacity to the work, with neatly turned phrases and just the right amount of rhythmic give and take, and turned it into a thrilling and at times powerfully moving experience.

There was marvellously characterful playing from the wind and horns, and elegantly shaped melodies from the strings.

It was a shame that the concert opener was the highpoint of the evening, though. Young American pianist Jonathan Biss had a beautiful touch in the Mozart Piano Concerto no.20 in D minor, K466, but he almost over-characterised each phrase, despite the freshness and sincerity of his playing. In any case, it was often at odds with Hruša’s rather soft-focus approach to the orchestral writing.

It was a similar case with Hruša’s account of the Beethoven Second Symphony. It’s an exuberant, out-going work, ironically written when the composer was reeling from the realisation of his impending deafness, but the conductor’s reading was solid and workmanlike rather than joyful or witty. The woodwind sparkled in a driven first movement, and the finale was full of precipitous energy. However, the scherzo felt sluggish and overworked.

Rating: ***