RSNO Principals Month & Chatinees
I’ve been a regular attender at RSNO Usher Hall concerts for many years, but living a 15 minute stroll away I usually arrive in the hall with a few minutes to spare. So I’ve rarely listened to pre-concert talks, which I know from repute have been an essential part of the concerts for better organised friends. Not all conductors enjoy talking before a performance, but I have fond memories of Stephane Deneuve’s chats especially in the memorable series of 10 concerts in 2010 which included 10 pieces written since 2000. It’s a great talent to make the strange and daunting approachable. He certainly had it, and one of the boons of lockdown viewing has been listening to the musicians who happily explain their music to us in chats and conversations, at the start of concerts and in separate educational videos.
This month is RSNO Principals Month, in which four of the orchestra principals talk about themselves and their instruments. Each week, one player presents three programmes, a short introduction to the instrument, a longer chat with another player about their experiences as a musician, and a performance, played with the RSNO, of a concerto. So far I’ve sampled the three programmes featuring Katherine Bryan, Principal Flute, and two with Principal Oboe, Adrian Wilson.
These provide fascinating information about the history of the instruments, their range, and most importantly the musicians’ own experiences of playing their instruments and being part of a large orchestra. Anyone with an interest in classical music will find each week provides a rounded introduction to the performance of the concerto on Fridays.
A word of warning. I started with Adrian Wilson’s 7-minute introduction to the oboe. He speaks brightly to the camera with some jolly graphics. Questions pop up on the screen and we learn about the range of the instrument, and how the notes are made, with Adrian giving demonstrations. Not until he shows us how to blow into a reed using a cut down straw and the instruction “Ask an adult to help with the scissors” is displayed did I realise that this video is geared towards mid-primary school pupils! At that level it’s an excellent introduction to the instrument and ends with sensible information about how to find out about oboe lessons. Katherine Bryan ‘s video is also a lively introduction to her instrument. But neither ties in with the second and third programmes which are definitely adult fare. A bright child might be interested enough to go from the short introduction to watching the half-hour concerto, though selected highlights might be preferable. But they would definitely be put off by the 50-minute chat which forms the second programme!
Both the conversations so far have featured Associate Principal Oboist Peter Dykes as the interviewer. With Katherine Bryan, the format takes a while to get into its stride, and the first fifteen minutes seem rather stilted. She’s an enthusiast about her instrument, and about her career with the RSNO, and I soon appreciated the finer details she had space to discuss and her commitment to communicating to an audience. She has tips for aspiring orchestral musicians too with discussion about audition techniques. Katherine believes that Mozart didn’t like the flute, as he didn’t write much for it – though as she tells the children in the short video, he did devote a whole opera to it. Unsurprisingly her performance of Mozart’s Flute Concerto in the third programme would convince any listener that the flute was the composer’s favourite instrument. In the chat she talks about writing her own cadenzas, which she enjoys. She’s never improvised one during a concert but chooses in advance one from the number she’s prepared earlier.
In his session with Adrian Wilson, Peter Dykes is talking to his close colleague, and perhaps for that reason their conversation flows easily from the start and the hour goes past speedily. Near the beginning Adrian talks about Mozart as an opera composer and uses the oboe to show the similarity between a theme in the oboe concerto and an aria in ‘The Seraglio’. He later uses the same theme to illustrate how he learns a piece by omitting grace-notes till he knows the “tune”. By now I realise that both chats would benefit from more use of such examples from the players. I found myself listening rather than watching, and wondered if some screen sharing, possibly with the scores, or excerpts from performances might have enlivened the visual experience.
Two more weeks in this pattern are still to come with Principal Bassoon, David Hubbard, and Principal Trumpet, Christopher Hart, to follow. By the end of the month the orchestra will have a worthwhile introduction to their wind-players which will be available on their website indefinitely.
In December and January, the RSNO hosted two Chatinees, live webinars between experts on strands in the orchestra’s programme this season and next. Both of these are now also available on the RSNO website. Davuur Juul Magnussen, Principal Trombonist, is the genial host for both of these. The first entitled ‘Polska Scotland’ is an introduction to Polish music with an emphasis on the historic links between Scotland and Poland. Alastair Mackie, RSNO Chief Executive, talks enthusiastically about the importance of the stories behind the music being played, and Chris Sagan, chair of the Sikorski group, describes his Polish father’s life in Scotland after WWII, and his own success in tracing his relatives who still live in Poland. Chris also features in a documentary about Scottish Polish links. That and an excellent article by Ken Walton are on the website
The second Chatinee is entitled ‘Scotch Snaps’, with an intriguing mix of composers representing Scotland. Errolyn Wallen whose ‘Mighty River’ was played by the orchestra in January, was born in Guyana, brought up in London and spoke to us from her new home in a Scottish lighthouse. African American, Richard Thompson, was born and brought up in Aberdeen and now lives in San Diego. His suite from his opera ‘The Mask and the Mirror’ received its World Premiere on 29th January. Excerpts from his and Errolyn’s works are played during the webinar. RSNO Principal Horn, Chris Gough, talked about his new work, ‘Clydebank 41’ which commemorates the Clydebank Blitz. That is now available online.
The Chatinees have been a lively introduction to the RSNO’s work. The 50-minute format manages to cram in a great deal of interest.
