RSNO Tchaikovsky's Pathetique Usher Hall Edinburgh 21st April 2023 Review
RSNO Tchaikovsky’s Pathétique at the Usher Hall Edinburgh this evening was, as usual, an interesting programme of music that introduced me to new works and more familiar ones too.
Starting off this evening’s music was my first introduction to the music of Norwegian composer David Monrad Johansen (1888–1974) and his 1939 work “Pan”. This work was commissioned by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation to mark the 80th birthday of Nobel Prize winning author Knut Hamsun and his 1917 “Growth Of The Soil” novel.
With “Pan”, Johansen brings to life the story and much of the symbolism embodied in this novel and creates a truly remarkable work that, for me, conjured up so much imagery in my mind, almost as if the composer was painting pictures, telling stories in sound.
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto took me into more familiar musical territory with one of my favourite composers, and it is hard now to imagine why the musical and critical elite were so united in their dislike of this work when it was first performed in 1881. As always, it is the passage of time which truly decides what music survives down the years, and not a small band of people who think for some reason that they are the guardians of public taste.
Thankfully Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto has not only survived the years, but if anything it has become more popular over time and in the hands of soloist Randall Goosby it is easy to understand why, as this is a remarkable composition full of so many colours and contrasts. It was clear watching Randall Goosby perform tonight that this music is a piece that he takes pleasure in performing, and Tchaikovsky was obviously in good spirits himself when composing this work.
One highlight of the evening for me was an extra encore performance by Randall Goosby of “Louisiana Blues Strut" (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson). So much fun encapsulated in a few minutes of music.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is, for me, interesting not only for the technical demands that it requires of any soloist performing it, but also you can hear clearly strands of the music that the composer would have heard around him during his lifetime and I can hear elements of traditional folk music weaving their way through much of this work. Yes, this is classical music at its best from one of Russia’s greatest composers, but there are so many elements of Gypsy music in here too and that small step to Gypsy Jazz is not too far away. Both musical styles share the experience of life in all of its joys and sorrows, its triumphs and its tragedies.
The final music tonight was again from Tchaikovsky and his at times mysterious Symphony No 6 in B minor “Pathetique”. Perhaps some of this mystery is in the original mistranslation of the Russian word “patetichesky” (meaning passionate or emotional) into the French “Pathetique” (arousing emotion). The English word pathetic of course has a very different meaning too.
Symphony No 6 was written at a time of much turmoil in the composer’s life (first performed in 1893) and it also has many music puzzles – an odd time signature (five beats to the bar) and final movement and ending unlike anything that people had heard before in a symphony as the composer uses perhaps the most important space in music (but understood by so few people), silence to end this work.
In this work, Tchaikovsky takes us on an emotional roller-coaster that in some ways maybe reflects the inner turmoil of his own mind. Is Symphony No 6 in some way an attempt at musical analysis of Tchaikovsky’s inner self, some sort of musical therapy? We will never know the answer to so many questions that this work raises, as only a few days after its premier Tchaikovsky was dead. Did he deliberately drink the unboiled water that led to him contracting fatal cholera? Another mstery that must forever remain unanswered.
A special mention tonight must go to Lionel Bringuier (conductor) who at the last moment stepped in to replace Tabita Berglund who was indisposed. A fine remarkable performance by Lionel Bringuier and the RSNO, particularly as they only had some 5 days to work on this programme of music together.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Starting off this evening’s music was my first introduction to the music of Norwegian composer David Monrad Johansen (1888–1974) and his 1939 work “Pan”. This work was commissioned by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation to mark the 80th birthday of Nobel Prize winning author Knut Hamsun and his 1917 “Growth Of The Soil” novel.
With “Pan”, Johansen brings to life the story and much of the symbolism embodied in this novel and creates a truly remarkable work that, for me, conjured up so much imagery in my mind, almost as if the composer was painting pictures, telling stories in sound.
Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto took me into more familiar musical territory with one of my favourite composers, and it is hard now to imagine why the musical and critical elite were so united in their dislike of this work when it was first performed in 1881. As always, it is the passage of time which truly decides what music survives down the years, and not a small band of people who think for some reason that they are the guardians of public taste.
Thankfully Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto has not only survived the years, but if anything it has become more popular over time and in the hands of soloist Randall Goosby it is easy to understand why, as this is a remarkable composition full of so many colours and contrasts. It was clear watching Randall Goosby perform tonight that this music is a piece that he takes pleasure in performing, and Tchaikovsky was obviously in good spirits himself when composing this work.
One highlight of the evening for me was an extra encore performance by Randall Goosby of “Louisiana Blues Strut" (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson). So much fun encapsulated in a few minutes of music.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto is, for me, interesting not only for the technical demands that it requires of any soloist performing it, but also you can hear clearly strands of the music that the composer would have heard around him during his lifetime and I can hear elements of traditional folk music weaving their way through much of this work. Yes, this is classical music at its best from one of Russia’s greatest composers, but there are so many elements of Gypsy music in here too and that small step to Gypsy Jazz is not too far away. Both musical styles share the experience of life in all of its joys and sorrows, its triumphs and its tragedies.
The final music tonight was again from Tchaikovsky and his at times mysterious Symphony No 6 in B minor “Pathetique”. Perhaps some of this mystery is in the original mistranslation of the Russian word “patetichesky” (meaning passionate or emotional) into the French “Pathetique” (arousing emotion). The English word pathetic of course has a very different meaning too.
Symphony No 6 was written at a time of much turmoil in the composer’s life (first performed in 1893) and it also has many music puzzles – an odd time signature (five beats to the bar) and final movement and ending unlike anything that people had heard before in a symphony as the composer uses perhaps the most important space in music (but understood by so few people), silence to end this work.
In this work, Tchaikovsky takes us on an emotional roller-coaster that in some ways maybe reflects the inner turmoil of his own mind. Is Symphony No 6 in some way an attempt at musical analysis of Tchaikovsky’s inner self, some sort of musical therapy? We will never know the answer to so many questions that this work raises, as only a few days after its premier Tchaikovsky was dead. Did he deliberately drink the unboiled water that led to him contracting fatal cholera? Another mstery that must forever remain unanswered.
A special mention tonight must go to Lionel Bringuier (conductor) who at the last moment stepped in to replace Tabita Berglund who was indisposed. A fine remarkable performance by Lionel Bringuier and the RSNO, particularly as they only had some 5 days to work on this programme of music together.
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Please note that unless requested by performers/pr/venues that this website no longer uses the "star rating" system on reviews.