RSNO: Saint-Saëns Symphony No 3 (Organ)
Usher Hall - 07/10/22
An encouragingly good sized audience turned up at the Usher Hall for this concert of music by Stravinsky, Ruders and Saint-Saëns, given by the RSNO with their Music Director, Thomas Søndergård. On paper, this was an esoteric programme, and I was concerned that it wouldn’t attract many people, but such is the orchestra’s present reputation it would seem that folk are willing to try even a programme like this, with no well-known pieces, in the knowledge that they will be well entertained. This proved to be the case, in spades.
We started with Stravinsky’s 1937 ballet score, ‘Jeu de Cartes’, premiered in New York that year. The composer had been commissioned to write a ballet for the newly formed American Ballet, and the story goes that Stravinsky, poker mad, suddenly had a revelation about the subject in a Paris taxi. The dancers would be dressed as playing cards and the plot would revolve around a poker game. The resulting ballet was less specific even than that, but the score is witty and clever, with a starring role for the Joker! It’s a fine example of Stravinsky’s neo-classical style, not a period which particularly appeals to me, but the RSNO played it with a will, and with its hints of Ravel and Rossini, it made a good opener to the concert.
The second piece was the UK Premiere of a Harpsichord Concerto by the Danish composer, Poul Ruders. Co-commissioned by the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra and the RSNO, it received its world premiere in Aarhus in Denmark in 2020, with Mahan Esfahani as soloist, also our soloist here in Edinburgh. Mr Esfahani, born in Tehran in Iran and brought up in the USA, has established himself as one of the world’s leading harpsichordists, and his playing here was phenomenal. I have been lucky enough in my career as a singer to work with some of the best harpsichord players of the last forty years, in particular often performing and recording baroque music with Trevor Pinnock and John Butt. Mr Esfahani is on a similar level to these keyboard wizards and proved a wonderful advocate of Poul Ruders’ concerto. Naturally, his instrument was subtly amplified (the delicate plucked sounds of a harpsichord would be drowned by a full symphony orchestra), but so carefully that one was not aware of the sound enhancement, only the fact that you could hear it clearly. There were times in the outer fast movements when you only heard the percussive effects of the notes, rather than their musical value, but the overall effect was exciting. I enjoyed Mr Ruders’ modern but listenable style, his use of the orchestra clever and innovative, but it was in the slow middle movement that we heard something quite magical, as the harpsichord picked its way through a wash of beautiful and mysterious chords and atmospheres. Here the plucked nature of the instrument’s strings gave a sort of tintinnabulist flavour, reminiscent of, but quite different from, the music of Arvo Pärt. Mr Ruders, in his notes, had hinted at a crackerjack finale, and indeed we were rewarded with an extraordinary outpouring of sound from the orchestra and the soloist, as cascades of notes tumbled from the keyboard. Great cheers and bravos greeted the conclusion of the piece, especially when the 73-year old composer himself came to the podium. It was heart-warming to see a modern composition receive such an ovation, and we were privileged to witness it. As an encore, Mr Esfahani played a Gavotte with six variations by the French Baroque composer, Jean-Philippe Rameau, demonstrating both that he is a great stylist, with a delicate touch, and also a fine virtuoso, capable of finger numbing dexterity.
I was vaguely aware of Camille Saint-Saëns’ Third Symphony being something special, but couldn’t say precisely why, so when I did a little research prior to this concert, I was surprised to discover that it had been commissioned by the Royal Philharmonic Society and given its premiere in 1886, in St James’ Hall in London (demolished in 1905, and replaced by the Piccadilly Hotel), and only heard in Paris the following year. It was an instant hit, and has remained popular ever since, although demanding a large orchestra, piano (using two and four hands) and a huge organ. In addition, for anyone over 50, its big finale theme will instantly take you back to 1977, and the smash hit by Scott Fitzgerald and Yvonne Keeley, ‘If I had words’, used subsequently in the film, ‘Babe’ in 1995. Amusingly, for a song called ‘If I had words’, it uses very few, consisting of a four line verse repeated five times! The exotically named Scott Fitzgerald is in fact Glasgow’s own William McPhail!
Returning to the symphony, this turned out to be a blockbuster, and the RSNO and Søndergård played it to the hilt, with a wonderfully romantic performance, full of verve and panache. It is conceived in two movements but follows a classical form in that the first movement is basically an opening allegro followed by an adagio, and the second movement opens with a scherzo and ends with a maestoso finale, incorporating a fugue. The novelty lies in the use of the organ, and piano. The end of the initial allegro tapers away into a quieter section, with plucked notes in the basses and cellos, and ushers in the slow movement with quiet organ chords. This is a beautiful Poco Adagio of great reflective emotion, effectively a dialogue between strings and organ.
The Scherzo begins with an energetic string melody, and we soon hear the piano scurrying along in tandem. This animation begins to dissipate as the strings play a chorale-like melody, when suddenly the full organ crashes in with a gigantic chord of C Major, taking the breath away. Four hands on the piano lead us into the famous theme, played ethereally by the high strings, and this great movement runs its course, with brass fanfares, polyphonic fugue, full throttle organ until the final magnificent climax of transcendent power.
Mr Søndergård conducted with his usual flowing precision, reminding me yet again how lucky we are in Scotland to have him as our Music Director for the RSNO. He is simply one of the finest contemporary conductors, almost invariably choosing the right tempi for works he is conducting and following that choice with clear yet expressive control. Michael Bawtree, chorus director of the Edinburgh Royal Choral Union and a distinguished organist, was the excellent player of the magnificent Usher Hall organ, which with its colourfully lit pipes looks as good as it sounds. Restored in 2002, it is a fantastic instrument, and Mr Bawtree played it superbly.
This then was another triumphant concert from the RSNO. In times like these, when the arts are endangered by politicians looking to save money, it is ever more important that we support our artistic institutions. I encourage all our readers to spread the word, especially about our national symphony orchestra, the RSNO, and make sure that all its concerts are well supported and talked about. Next week sees Korngold’s Violin Concerto and Dvorak’s magnificent Seventh Symphony. I’ll be there. Will you?
