Music review: Symphony Orchestra of India & Zakir Hussain, Usher Hall, Edinburgh

Tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain was joined by Niladri Kumar on sitar and Rakesh Chaurasia on bansuri for a beautiful performance of his Triple Concerto with the Symphony Orchestra of India. Review by Susan Nickalls

Symphony Orchestra of India & Zakir Hussain, Usher Hall, Edinburgh ****

As the only professional orchestra in India, the SOI is something of a curiosity, but it was clear the vast majority of the audience had come to hear the phenomenal soloists in Zakir Hussain’s Triple Concerto.

Hussain is one of the world’s foremost tabla players and he was joined by Niladri Kumar on sitar and Rakesh Chaurasia on the bansuri, an ancient side blown bamboo flute. All three are Indian musical royalty with impressive lineages. Their beautiful, fluid sound was at the heart of this conventionally written concerto, framed by some judicious orchestral shading from conductor Alpesh Chauhan.

Zakir Hussain PIC: Jim McGuire

Hussain’s style is more Hollywood than Bollywood, with his open harmonies and expansive phrasing echoing Aaron Copland’s soundworld with its wide prairies and far horizons. The musicians let their virtuosity rip in a stunning, more improvisational encore. Underpinned by Hussain’s steady but always inventive tabla beat, Kumar’s fingers flew up and down the sitar fingerboard while Chaurasia held a single sustained note for almost two minutes.

The orchestra didn’t get off to a good start, opening with Strauss’s Rosenkavalier Suite which failed to produce that hallmark Straussian dynamic sweep of sound. The composer’s scores are richly textured and unfortunately a lot of the detail got lost here in Chauhan’s reading, which lacked overall shape and direction. The waltz dragged when it should have been jaunty and it was only in the pared down passages with the celeste and harp that the orchestra came close to capturing the emotional essence of this opera.

Chauhan and the orchestra did redeem themselves with a more confident and focused performance of Stravinsky’s Petrushka. Although they didn’t always deliver the dynamic urgency and sardonic bite of this macabre tale, there was plenty of sparkle and character, particularly from the piano, oboe, bassoon and trumpet soloists.