East Neuk Festival: Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Bowhouse - 03/07/22

The penultimate concert of the East Neuk Festival featured the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, with soprano Anna Dennis, in a popular classical programme of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, conducted by Peter Whelan.  I was delighted to see, as customary with the SCO in such repertoire, the period horns and trumpets on stage, as well as the small timpani.  All contribute something special to the sound which cannot normally be heard from a large symphony orchestra, even when the forces are pared down for classical repertoire.  I confess to harbouring some misgivings about the barnlike venue, but the acoustic is surprisingly good, if occasionally a bit live to support hearing the clear distinct character of instrumental voices playing in ensemble forte.  At least the fans did not turn on, as they had done in the Schubert Octet two days previously. 

First up was Haydn’s Symphony No. 82 in C, ‘The Bear’, named (not by Haydn) for the bagpipe imitation in the finale, like the music that accompanied the street entertainment of a dancing bear, popular at the time in Central Europe.  It is a work permeated by Haydn’s legendary humour.  The Vivace first movement was bright and crisp.  Particularly lovely was the flute solo second subject.  As we have come to expect from this fine orchestra, there was always great ensemble sound with perfect blending and balance, yet clear sectional character and good tone from all players.  And lovely sound from those wee timps!  The Allegretto was quite brisk and dance-like in common time, mostly in the major but with two minor interludes, the second quite wayward.  The witty answering phrases, fully imitative in rhythm including a repeated note at the end, were beautifully pointed to humorous effect.  The conventional minuet, in the major with lovely chromatic phrase endings, was elegantly played, as was the more lightly scored trio, at the same underlying tempo but with rallentando at the ends of lines, Haydn’s whimsical key changes and a pause to keep us wondering.  The ‘Bear’ finale was full of cheeky fun: for example, exaggerating the pause length in the repeat (all, incidentally, being observed).  The horns shone with glorious tone.  A thoroughly excellent interpretation and performance. 

Soprano Anna Dennis, resplendent in hot pink, took the stage for two of Constanze’s arias from ‘Die Entführung aus dem Serail’ (The Abduction from the Seraglio), Mozart’s opera about a rescue mission to spring the devoted Constanze from captivity in the harem of a Turkish Pasha.  In the first, Traurigkeit (sadness), she bemoans her plight, worst of all her separation from her beloved Belmonte, and pledges her eponymous constancy to him.  This was beautifully sung with exquisite phrasing and breath control.  Also deserving of special mention is the period horn-playing, echoing the stabbing pain in her soul.  The second aria, Martern aller Artern (Tortures of all kinds), is defiant and march-like in the major key. A long orchestral introduction with solos empathising with the heroine was sensitively played.  The aria proper, with its extensive and challenging coloratura writing, was skilfully and expressively delivered.  Particularly impressive was the soaring cadenza, suddenly dropping into the alto register to a low descending phrase, then leaping back to the heights.  In the rapid, joyous coda, the orchestra cheered her on. 

After the interval, the one work was Beethoven’s ever-popular Symphony No. 8 in F, Op. 93.  Often seen, perhaps in comparison with the mighty iconic 7th and 9th which flank it in the master’s symphonic canon, as well as the Haydnesque humour in which it abounds, as a light work, it is worth remembering that Beethoven himself considered it his masterpiece, regarding it with pride and affection.  It has hidden depths, which conductor Peter Whelan succeeded in revealing.  The first movement was earthy and playful, with great sforzandi and pace, and as con brio as Beethoven intended, but due weight was given to the drama inherent in the sense of longing in the minor-key development section, as it claws its way triumphantly back to the major.  In the brisk Allegretto scherzando, with its reputed parodic imitation of a metronome, the fun continued.  The minuet, securely in the correct tempo for the elegant dance, but abounding in off-beat accents and a lumpen scoring suggesting very obese dancers, is classic Beethovenian humour and it was given deliciously full rein.  Sadly, despite being in their home key of F, the period horns struggled to voice and pitch the beautiful lyrical trio, one of Beethoven’s many gifts to the instrument he clearly loved.  This did not mar the performance and I would not have foregone the otherwise beautiful tone of these instruments elsewhere in the concert, in favour of valved instruments, just to have had a flawless note or two in the Beethoven.  The Allegro vivace finale is as full of mischief as the preceding movements, though the lilting lyrical second subject is innocence personified.  The big gag is the intrusive tutti fortissimo C# “wrong note” that keeps interrupting the music.  But the real punchline occurs in the development section, where it heralds a change to F#-minor, in which the C# is very much the right note (while Beethoven seems to shrug and say, “what rule book?”).  After several C#-thwarted attempts to claw back to the home key, a simple adjustment in one note of a repeated phrase accomplishes the feat (what just happened?) with a wink from Beethoven.  The final joke is, seeming to mull over options for presenting the final cadence, Beethoven decides to use them all in a prolonged coda.  Peter Whelan displayed his affection for this great work by guiding us and the SCO through this romp of Beethovenian hilarity to its triumphant conclusion – a super interpretation and performance!