Music review: RSNO & Mahan Esfahani, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

The RSNO and soloist Mahan Esfahani were on impressive form for the UK premiere of Poul Ruders’ Concerto for Harpsichord, writes Ken Walton

RSNO & Mahan Esfahani, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall ****

This latest RSNO programme moved seamlessly on from last weekend’s, with more Stravinsky as the opener, and music director Thomas Søndergård again directing an RSNO on top form. It began with a game of cards – or at least, Stravinsky’s tricksy musical representation of a poker match, Jeu de cartes, conceived in 1937 as a ballet score for the choreographer George Balanchine. It seemed appropriate, then, for Søndergård to interpret the fanfare-like opening in sly, poker-faced fashion, by keeping his cards close to his chest.

If that initial sense of cool containment was intended to tease, even leave us a little frustrated by its matter-of-factness, the effectiveness of the strategy soon revealed its true intentions. Søndergård made the most of the music’s icy neoclassicism, ducking and diving through its colourful diversions with gleeful mischief. It was a sharp, crisp performance.

Mahan Esfahani in rehearsals with the RSNO PIC: Jessica CowleyMahan Esfahani in rehearsals with the RSNO PIC: Jessica Cowley
Mahan Esfahani in rehearsals with the RSNO PIC: Jessica Cowley
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So was the UK premiere of Poul Ruders’ Concerto for Harpsichord, a work written in 2020 for the fearless Iranian harpsichordist Mahan Esfahani. The joy of Ruders’ writing is that it seeks to release the instrument from its Baroque straitjacket, give it a contemporary voice, and overcome its volume limitations through subtle amplification.

Esfahani’s performance captured the infectious volatility of the music, from its pulverising wildness to chiming sensitivity, its pervading obsession with repeated notes to copious liberating flights of free-flowing virtuosity. Rich and sensitive colourings from the RSNO enhanced its charming freshness.

Freshness was also the watchword in Saint-Saëns’ Organ Symphony, a work often lazily churned out, but thoroughly rejuvenated here by Søndergård’s insistence on absolute purity of texture and naturally-inspired momentum. Organist Michael Bawtree achieved the near-impossible, finding delicate hues that made Glasgow’s digital organ sound close to real. Rarely have I heard this symphony sound so incisive.