SCO Currie plays Grime The Queen's Hall Edinburgh 7th April 2022 Review
Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Currie Plays Grime at The Queen’s Hall Edinburgh tonight was, for me, one of those performances where you left feeling “I never expected that”, and I mean that in a good way.
Although there were four works on the programme tonight, the title of this evening’s performance gives away immediately the central work - internationally respected percussionist Colin Currie performing a new work written for him by multi-talented composer Helen Grime. This performance was perhaps a little bit special as Colin Currie was born in Edinburgh and Helen Grime also has very strong connections to Edinburgh.
To try and describe in words this Percussion Concerto and the way that Helen Grime has integrated both the orchestra and solo percussion in ways that you do not normally expect to happen is a little difficult, and perhaps even reduces things a little bit. This performance, over 23 minutes (approx.) was an immersive experience in sound that really needs to be allowed to work on your thoughts, imagination and emotions in a live performance setting. Still, this is a review and I have to try and convey at least a little of this live performance experience to this page.
The sound of one object hitting another is perhaps one of the oldest in human history and percussion instruments/sounds are to be found in every culture across the globe with their use often being involved in timeless ritual and often as sound gateways to other unseen realms. Both Grime and Currie clearly understand this ability of percussive sound to transform a space, and this percussion concerto is not only constantly playing with the orchestra in many ways, but changing the way that percussion is often used as a solo performance. Here instead of the often used heavy rhythmic sounds that we often expect from percussion, we also have over the three distinct parts of this work, Colin Currie’s performances on Marimba, Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Crotales, Cowbells and Woodblocks sounds of gentle melody and haunting fragility that we do not often experience in a solo percussion performance, sounds that at times float in your imagination into spaces just beyond what you expect to be there.
This percussion concerto was first performed in 2019 and this evening’s performance has been in the planning stages for a while now, but other events in the world obviously caused delays. Still the wait for this Scottish premiere of GRIME percussion concerto was worth the wait, and Colin Currie was obviously enjoying every moment of his chance to perform this work with SCO in Edinburgh.
That theme of sounds to paint a picture, or to transport you to other places, continues in the other three performances this evening, and as often with the SCO I find myself exploring familiar and unfamiliar works with EBERL Overture, 'Die Ko?nigin der schwarzen Inseln' ('The Queen of the Black Island') and HAYDN Overture, 'L’isola disabitata' both evoking the sea and far flung exotic islands, but in completely different parts of the globe.
As always, it was also a pleasure to hear BEETHOVEN Symphony No 4 being performed as this shorter work is often somehow slightly overlooked sitting in between the far larger and better known Symphonies 3 and 5, and this is always a shame as there is just so much colour, diversity and even fun in No 4. If you think that Beethoven has a particular sound and feel, then this one will usually contradict much that you maybe think about this very diverse composer.
The complete performance order of works this evening was as follows
EBERL Overture, 'Die Ko?nigin der schwarzen Inseln' ('The Queen of the Black Island')
GRIME Percussion Concerto
HAYDN Overture, 'L’isola disabitata'
BEETHOVEN Symphony No 4
Conducting SCO for this performance, Clemens Schuldt.
Review by Tom King (c) 2022
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
Although there were four works on the programme tonight, the title of this evening’s performance gives away immediately the central work - internationally respected percussionist Colin Currie performing a new work written for him by multi-talented composer Helen Grime. This performance was perhaps a little bit special as Colin Currie was born in Edinburgh and Helen Grime also has very strong connections to Edinburgh.
To try and describe in words this Percussion Concerto and the way that Helen Grime has integrated both the orchestra and solo percussion in ways that you do not normally expect to happen is a little difficult, and perhaps even reduces things a little bit. This performance, over 23 minutes (approx.) was an immersive experience in sound that really needs to be allowed to work on your thoughts, imagination and emotions in a live performance setting. Still, this is a review and I have to try and convey at least a little of this live performance experience to this page.
The sound of one object hitting another is perhaps one of the oldest in human history and percussion instruments/sounds are to be found in every culture across the globe with their use often being involved in timeless ritual and often as sound gateways to other unseen realms. Both Grime and Currie clearly understand this ability of percussive sound to transform a space, and this percussion concerto is not only constantly playing with the orchestra in many ways, but changing the way that percussion is often used as a solo performance. Here instead of the often used heavy rhythmic sounds that we often expect from percussion, we also have over the three distinct parts of this work, Colin Currie’s performances on Marimba, Glockenspiel, Vibraphone, Crotales, Cowbells and Woodblocks sounds of gentle melody and haunting fragility that we do not often experience in a solo percussion performance, sounds that at times float in your imagination into spaces just beyond what you expect to be there.
This percussion concerto was first performed in 2019 and this evening’s performance has been in the planning stages for a while now, but other events in the world obviously caused delays. Still the wait for this Scottish premiere of GRIME percussion concerto was worth the wait, and Colin Currie was obviously enjoying every moment of his chance to perform this work with SCO in Edinburgh.
That theme of sounds to paint a picture, or to transport you to other places, continues in the other three performances this evening, and as often with the SCO I find myself exploring familiar and unfamiliar works with EBERL Overture, 'Die Ko?nigin der schwarzen Inseln' ('The Queen of the Black Island') and HAYDN Overture, 'L’isola disabitata' both evoking the sea and far flung exotic islands, but in completely different parts of the globe.
As always, it was also a pleasure to hear BEETHOVEN Symphony No 4 being performed as this shorter work is often somehow slightly overlooked sitting in between the far larger and better known Symphonies 3 and 5, and this is always a shame as there is just so much colour, diversity and even fun in No 4. If you think that Beethoven has a particular sound and feel, then this one will usually contradict much that you maybe think about this very diverse composer.
The complete performance order of works this evening was as follows
EBERL Overture, 'Die Ko?nigin der schwarzen Inseln' ('The Queen of the Black Island')
GRIME Percussion Concerto
HAYDN Overture, 'L’isola disabitata'
BEETHOVEN Symphony No 4
Conducting SCO for this performance, Clemens Schuldt.
Review by Tom King (c) 2022
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com