Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Benedetti and Emelyanychev
Usher Hall - 29/09/22
An Ayrshire triumph reviewed by an Ayrshire critic
That’s what I told Nicola Benedetti at the interval reception after her triumphal performance of the new violin concerto by James Macmillan. Nicola was born in Irvine Ayrshire and James Macmillan was born nearby in Kilwinning but grew up in Cumnock. A gratifying coincidence to this Kilmarnock critic! Sadly James Macmillan wasn’t at the Usher Hall tonight, but he had been present the night before in Perth for the first of three SCO concerts featuring the World Premier of his new work, Violin Concerto No 2. Had he been here tonight he would have heard a superb rendition of his concerto by Nicola and an ecstatic reception from a sold out Usher Hall. What was also significant was that there were a lot of young people in the audience, certainly compared to normal classical concerts. It’s what has become known as “the Nicola effect”; she appeals to young people in Scotland, something that bodes well when she takes over the Edinburgh Festival directorship next month. When she is in charge, she will hopefully bring in more Scottish composers like James Macmillan. The last Edinburgh Festival had no Scottish composers in its classical programme. Indeed, Macmillan’s violin concerto played by Nicola would make a great opening work for next year’s festival.
This is James Macmillan’s second violin concerto. It was commissioned by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra amongst others. It is dedicated to Nicola and in memory of the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, who died in 2020. Macmillan and Nicola have had a close working relationship with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra over the years and this violin concerto is the result of that relationship. It is melodic yet challenging, reflective yet at times martial, at times loud but ending quietly. Nicola’s performance expresses these moods, at one melancholy, reflective and resolute. It is a very fine though difficult work and I think it will become a standard of the repertoire, establishing James Macmillan as not just Scotland’s but Britain’s leading contemporary composer. He provides a detailed set of notes explaining his intentions in the SCO programme which can be downloaded from the SCO they are worth a read.
The concert opened with a delightful performance of John Adams’ ‘The Chairman Dances’, which is an outtake from his opera ‘Nixon in China’. With lots of percussion, brass and Chinese effects, and a lively conductor in Maxim Emelyanychev, who convinced us, in John Adams’ words, that it was ‘minimalist without minimalism’! The concert ended with a lively performance of Tchaikovsky’s 6th Symphony, the ‘Pathetique’, making a great balanced concert. It was, as cellist Su-a Lee said in her introduction, a great evening of music. Su-a Lee, in her playing of the cello, is an iconic symbol of the SCO in the pleasure she takes in her music. This was an augmented SCO tonight with at times over 50 musicians on stage. It was a fine opening concert to what looks to be a great season.
