Sunday Classics Swedish Philharmonia Khachaturian Usher Hall Edinburgh 19th March 2023 Review
Sunday Classics Swedish Philharmonia with Khachaturian Violin Concerto as the headline performance at the Usher Hall Edinburgh this afternoon was a good example of why I like this series of concerts so much – there is always the chance to hear new orchestras perform and, along the way, often discover new composers and new music too.
This concert introduced me, even if via a short piece of work, to Swedish composer Anders Bo Leif Linde (1933-1970) and his A Merry Overture, Opus 14 (1954). This work, full of brightness and hope, is really the composer’s feelings at returning to his home city Gävle in 1954 when he was 21 years old. Even here though, there is still something very Swedish about this work. Sadly, Anders Bo Leif Linde died unexpectedly when only 37 years of age, but he has (as I found out online) left much more of his music for me to explore in the coming years.
This short work was followed by work from a composer that I should know better, Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978), but all too rarely get the opportunity to hear his work at concerts. This performance of his Violin Concerto in D minor (1940) by virtuosic Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulović was, however, worth the wait.
Khachaturian was born in Tiflis (Tbilisi), Georgia of Armenian descent and this rich cultural musical heritage is evident all the way through this work. Perhaps this work which is so infused with the music and rhythms of traditional dances of the Caucasian region is what makes this work (which was originally composed for violinist David Oistrakh) such a unique identity.
Bringing this violin concerto to life this afternoon was acclaimed Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulović, and his obvious pleasure at playing this music was evident throughout his performance. Whilst his obvious technical skills on violin were more than evident, it was in part also his ability to create and immerse himself in the many moods, colours and emotions of this work that created a very special performance on-stage. It was all too easy to see here just how swiftly this music and Nemanja Radulović could make a short side step into the world of gypsy jazz music.
The second half of this afternoon’s programme was taken up with a performance of a composer and a work perhaps better known to many people in the audience, Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and his Symphony No 2 in D major, Opus 43 (1902). Despite its familiarity, this work is still full of surprises that still to this day have musicologists debating over exactly what the composer was expressing both in music and narrative.
With this work, Sibelius is often at odds with many of the conventions of how a symphony should be composed, and instead of giving it everything that he could use in an orchestra to create a very wide musical landscape, he often chooses to be very selective in how he works with his music and the instruments available to him and often shorter pictures in sound are created like small jig-saw puzzle pieces that should not fit together into a larger picture, but somehow always do.
Some people studying this work find repeating musical motifs of very dramatic characters including Death. What is not in doubt is that amidst all of the brightness and hope in earlier parts of earlier movements, the at times very dark tones and atmosphere of the final movement of this work reflect the despair that Sibelius himself felt at the death of close family members and it is always for me interesting to be able to experience a little of what the composer was feeling at this time through his music over 100 years later.
Bringing all of the diverse, yet somehow connected elements of this musical programme together, were the Swedish Philharmonia and conductor Jamie Martin.
THE FULL PROGRAMME FOR THIS PERORMANCE WAS
Conductor Jaime Martin
Soloist Nemanja Radulović (Violin)
Swedish Philharmonia (also performing as Gävle Symphony Orchestra)
Bo Linde A Merry Overture op. 14
Khachaturian Violin Concerto
Interval
Sibelius Symphony No. 2
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
This concert introduced me, even if via a short piece of work, to Swedish composer Anders Bo Leif Linde (1933-1970) and his A Merry Overture, Opus 14 (1954). This work, full of brightness and hope, is really the composer’s feelings at returning to his home city Gävle in 1954 when he was 21 years old. Even here though, there is still something very Swedish about this work. Sadly, Anders Bo Leif Linde died unexpectedly when only 37 years of age, but he has (as I found out online) left much more of his music for me to explore in the coming years.
This short work was followed by work from a composer that I should know better, Aram Khachaturian (1903-1978), but all too rarely get the opportunity to hear his work at concerts. This performance of his Violin Concerto in D minor (1940) by virtuosic Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulović was, however, worth the wait.
Khachaturian was born in Tiflis (Tbilisi), Georgia of Armenian descent and this rich cultural musical heritage is evident all the way through this work. Perhaps this work which is so infused with the music and rhythms of traditional dances of the Caucasian region is what makes this work (which was originally composed for violinist David Oistrakh) such a unique identity.
Bringing this violin concerto to life this afternoon was acclaimed Serbian-French violinist Nemanja Radulović, and his obvious pleasure at playing this music was evident throughout his performance. Whilst his obvious technical skills on violin were more than evident, it was in part also his ability to create and immerse himself in the many moods, colours and emotions of this work that created a very special performance on-stage. It was all too easy to see here just how swiftly this music and Nemanja Radulović could make a short side step into the world of gypsy jazz music.
The second half of this afternoon’s programme was taken up with a performance of a composer and a work perhaps better known to many people in the audience, Jean Sibelius (1865-1957) and his Symphony No 2 in D major, Opus 43 (1902). Despite its familiarity, this work is still full of surprises that still to this day have musicologists debating over exactly what the composer was expressing both in music and narrative.
With this work, Sibelius is often at odds with many of the conventions of how a symphony should be composed, and instead of giving it everything that he could use in an orchestra to create a very wide musical landscape, he often chooses to be very selective in how he works with his music and the instruments available to him and often shorter pictures in sound are created like small jig-saw puzzle pieces that should not fit together into a larger picture, but somehow always do.
Some people studying this work find repeating musical motifs of very dramatic characters including Death. What is not in doubt is that amidst all of the brightness and hope in earlier parts of earlier movements, the at times very dark tones and atmosphere of the final movement of this work reflect the despair that Sibelius himself felt at the death of close family members and it is always for me interesting to be able to experience a little of what the composer was feeling at this time through his music over 100 years later.
Bringing all of the diverse, yet somehow connected elements of this musical programme together, were the Swedish Philharmonia and conductor Jamie Martin.
THE FULL PROGRAMME FOR THIS PERORMANCE WAS
Conductor Jaime Martin
Soloist Nemanja Radulović (Violin)
Swedish Philharmonia (also performing as Gävle Symphony Orchestra)
Bo Linde A Merry Overture op. 14
Khachaturian Violin Concerto
Interval
Sibelius Symphony No. 2
Review by Tom King © 2023
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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