RSNO, Wynton Marsalis
Usher Hall, Edinburgh - 16/08/24
Conductor - Elim Chan. Soloists: Alison Balsom – trumpet; Pierre-Laurent Aimard – piano.
The RSNO, under the baton of Elim Chan (its guest conductor from 2018 to 2023), provided a packed Usher Hall with a fascinating, exceptionally-delivered exposition of different aspects of the concerto form in the mid-twentieth and early twenty-first centuries last night.
Wynton Marsalis’ six-part Trumpet Concerto, receiving its Scottish premiere, appeared on the scene earlier this year, and is fast establishing itself an essential repertoire piece for the modern instrument. Soloist Alison Balsom, whose career is dedicated to the trumpet’s outer boundaries, as well as its long tradition, describes the new Marsalis concerto as “one of the most important and impactful pieces written for [the instrument] in the last 200 years.” On the evidence of this performance, she is not exaggerating.
The opening march elides into magical symphonic-like moments, tantalising melodic fragments and riffs, and a call-and-response conversation between the soloist (who uses two instruments and six mutes throughout the work), woodwind and brass. This is underpinned and elaborated by deft strings, dramatic percussion, and a cute throwaway ending to the first movement.
A ballad-like second movement incorporates some, smooth late night sounding dance moves, but also an abiding sense of restlessness. Playful jigs, cheeky countermelodies, an occasional New Orleans feel, stressed syncopation, and a host of influences (Afro-Hispanic tunes, the Blues, a French waltz and much more), run through this concerto, which begins and ends with elephant cries.
There is a massive faux climax near the end, followed by a magical orchestral evolution of jungle and bird sounds. An extraordinary achievement, equally at home in its classical and jazz roots, but still creating a fresh vocabulary and demanding a tour-de-force workout from the soloist. The cool, strikingly white-suited Balsom was more than up to the task.
How to follow that? The answer, in a commendably adventurous piece of programming, was Schoenberg’s late Piano Concerto Op. 42, beautifully performed by perhaps its foremost current exponent, the internationally regarded Pierre-Lauren Aimard. This is a strictly serial work, using all twelve pitches of the chromatic scale in order. Its construction is layered and complex. But it also has a surprisingly joyful and free-spirited feel to it. Those who doubt that serialism can ever give way to melody might be pleasantly surprised by this wonderful concerto, which is fizzing with invention. Aimard gave typically authoritative performance alongside a well-drilled RSNO.
The final offering was Lutoslawski’s compelling and powerful three movement Concerto for Orchestra, which in the pinnacle of the Polish composer’s engagement with native folklore and folk musical traditions. Here he takes some traditional melodic themes, but completely re-works them in a symphonic, almost tone poem like style. This piece was written after the war, but it still has the brooding atmosphere and longing associated with that long, dark night and its aftermath.
There are Baroque elements, strong harmonic ideas, imaginative pieces of orchestration, and brave atonal counterpoints throughout this piece. Here the dynamism of the conductor shone through, especially in the powerful climax of the concerto. The RSNO deservedly received a rapturous response for their awe-inspiring performance of Lutoslawki’s best-known work, and for a fine and absorbing concert overall.
