The RNCM students once again proved just how talented and professional they truly are this evening. A very last minute change to their advertised programme meant that the main piece in this evening's concert was changed from a cello concerto to a euphonium one...and it was played as if they'd been playing it all their lives! However, let's start at the beginning...
The concert opened with a very interesting and somewhat experimental piece of music by Icelandic contemporary composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir, called "Into - Second Self". The opening of this piece was an aural wonder. Carefully placed wind players all over the concert hall gave a truly surround-sound experience, whilst four percussionists on the stage were tasked with playing many different traditional and non-traditional percussion instruments in interesting ways. Starting with just the Icelandic wind blowing through the valley - (or should I say the instrumentalists creating that effect) - the piece was a very slow and gradual atmospheric crescendo to a rather abrupt ending. It is a piece of music that would only work in live performance, and was a very engaging opening piece of contemporary composition in this evening's concert of non-conventional music.
The second piece was for the whole wind orchestra, and was conducted by Mark Heron. We moved from Iceland to Portugal; and from imaginary landscapes to traditional folk music and dance. This was Nelson Jesus's "Porto De Saudades"; a collection of 9 Portuguese melodies transformed and arranged into a suite for wind band played without a break. It provided the orchestra with many solo opportunities, whilst the rest of the band accompanied the solos; and some of the melodies were indeed quite beautiful. When the whole orchestra played with a swell, the sound was lush and delightful. Most of the melodies though I found were underdeveloped and pitched against a rather strange harmonic structure with occasional discord. The opening, final piece, and the central section where the band were directed to sing "ah" and "Ave Maria", were the most successful.
Next came a world premiere performance of Sam Longbottom's experimental "Melt Into It". A post-grad student at the RNCM, Longbottom was in attendance, and told us his inspiration for the music was that of an Asian film set in an endless jungle, where two men fall in love and one turns into a tiger. Using pre-recorded sounds which were amplified and distorted on playback, four wind players created sounds on top of and around it creating a weird soundscape where I swear I could hear a voice screaming at one point and an aeroplane passing overhead at another...! An eerie aural experience.
To end the first half, a return to Iceland and Anna Thorvaldsdottir. This time a short piece called 'Sequences' scored for just four instruments. These instruments are the big bad bass versions of the more conventional versions found in orchestras under normal circumstances. Bass flute, bass clarinet, contrabassoon, and bass saxophone, all were given again breathing and non-conventional playing instructions to create another strangely atmposheric and eerie piece which, for me, on first listening, sounding much more like the underscoring of a sequence in a horror film than complementing an Icelandic landscape.
The second half of the concert started with the Euphonium Concerto by Joseph Horovitz. Composed in the classical three movement form, this was a delightful, lyrical, and aural spectacle. The euphonium solo being performed by Steven Mead - who, we learnt, has played the concerto many times before, even being conducted by Horovitz himself and performing it for Horovitz's 80th birthday celebrations. There is no doubt that Mead knew and understood this concerto extremely well, and his expertise on the euphonium was seemingly effortless and awe-inspiring. A March-like first movement takes one into a lilting lento melody for the second, which contrasts nicely with the joviality and flourish of the upbeat finale.
The final piece in this evening's concert was by British composer Kenneth Hesketh, and was his tribute to The Ballet Russe. His "Diaghilev Dances" are not just inspired by founder of the Ballet Russe, Sergei Diaghilev, but his music also takes influences, ideas, and even soundscapes from both Stravinsky and Ravel. It's a modern take on impressionism, and it is beautifully orchestrated with tuneful melodies and lush sounding swells. And, just like Stravinsky's ballet music, it would not be easy to dance to!
Sadly though, for me at least, my enjoyment of the concert was once again marred by the lack of programme. What is now becoming the norm with the RNCM is that the programmes for their concerts are not printed, but instead are available via a QR code on your mobile. And so, once again, I am having to refer to memory and prior knowledge for composers / conductors etc. The evening was introduced and compered by a lady from the RNCM, so we did know what we were listening to at the time, but had nothing to refer to at any later moment. One should not be using a mobile phone during a concert - it is just bad form. I sincerely hope they will start to print paper programmes again very soon.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 3.3.22
on - 3.3.22
Well done all. Is there a recording available?
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