Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Maxim Conducts Mozart and Weber

Great Hall, Stirling Castle - 20/07/22

The magnificent Great Hall in Stirling Castle was the venue for an all-classical programme on 20th July, as part of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s Summer Tour 2022.  The programme comprised two staples of the repertoire and one wildcard, all conducted by their dynamic new conductor since September 2019, Maxim Emelyanychev. 

Even before a note is played, there is so much about the SCO assembling on the dais at the head of the Great Hall to generate expectations in the mind of the concertgoer of an evening of great music-making, chamber in character though orchestral in scoring.  Every performer can see every other performer and there is much exchanging of smiles and banter.  The period horns and trumpets promise their unique timbre, as do those wonderful little timpani.  The programme itself, delivering established popular repertoire, but also promising a taste of the unfamiliar and neglected, is so very typical of the SCO and their mission.  And, of course, there is the long-awaited return of the ensemble to this venue after the pandemic had pushed the Summer Tour into digital virtuality. 

First up, after a genial welcome and introduction from Siún Milne of the first violins, was Mozart’s 3-movement Symphony No. 38, named for Prague, following its first performance in that city in 1787.  His anti-aristocratic opera ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ had been a roaring success in the Bohemian city of Prague the previous year, contrasting with the rather sniffy reception accorded it by the Viennese, so Mozart gladly accepted an invitation to the city and was fêted there throughout his stay, receiving a commission for another opera – ‘Don Giovanni’.  Indeed, the dark, searching harmonies in the chromatic Adagio introduction of the first movement seem to foreshadow a similar passage in the overture to the latter opera, descriptive of the flames of Hell licking upwards to deliver Don Juan’s ultimate come-uppance, and were performed with a great sense of drama (the Great Hall even has 5 large fireplaces!).  The ensuing Allegro was as charming as it was vigorous, with every opportunity for beautifully pointed answering phrases fully exploited and great dynamic range.  The lovely long chromatic opening phrases of the Andante were warmly delivered by the strings and the well-chosen tempo gave the “slow” movement a rustic dance-like quality.  The Presto finale was agile, with a light touch but plenty of oomph when needed, stylish syncopation and a good fortissimo at the start of the development section.  Perhaps uniquely among Mozart’s symphonies, the “Prague” has numerous instances where the wind band (sans clarinets) plays without the strings and they absolutely shone. 

The silence of the clarinets was remedied by the orchestra’s principal clarinettist, Maximiliano Martín, in Weber’s ever-popular Second Concerto for the instrument, in E-flat major. The operatic Weber is never far from the fore in this work, with recitative passages and bravura runs that would not be out of place in a coloratura operatic aria.  Our soloist’s entry after the orchestral introduction established a dramatic persona with masterful playing that was characterised by agility, flawless phrasing and tone, and a certain playful whimsy.  The lovely burbling arpeggios, that are so perfectly suited to the timbre of the instrument that no concerto for it has been written without them, were delivered with élan.  It was clear too, from the smiles and responsive playing, that the band particularly love supporting one of their own.  Playful Weber gives way to pensive Weber in the Romanze, a warm harp-like cello pizzicato introducing a minor-key melody over pulsating strings, with a darkness that foreshadows the Wolf’s Glen Scene from the opera ‘Der Freischütz’, a mere three opus numbers after the concerto.  Orchestral comments in the major try to lighten the mood, but the solo instrument steers it back to the minor.  A dramatic orchestral interjection is met by an equally dramatic recitative and cadenza from the soloist before the sombre mood is reasserted, and the movement closes as it opens with pizzicato cellos.  Orchestra and soloist realised the dramatic potential of this music in full measure.  The Alla Polacca finale is a speeded-up Polonaise, whose syncopated melody would not be out of place in a Chopin piano work.  In the coda, the burbling arpeggios and runs are back, and they were accomplished with style and technical brilliance. The Great Hall erupted with cheering and applause. 

We were treated to an extraordinary solo clarinet encore, an extremely technically challenging piece, with a slow air-like theme punctuated by very rapid phrenetic reel-like dance.  I am unable to identify it, but I thought I detected Celtic influences in the 21st-Century musical language.  Very impressive playing. 

After the interval, the “wildcard” on the programme was an 1812 Symphony in D by a Vienna-based Moravian contemporary of Mozart, whom he outlived by 17 years.  Pavel Vranický belonged to the same Masonic Lodge as Mozart, conducted the premiere of Beethoven’s First Symphony, and was held in high regard by Haydn.  I must admit to not having heard of him until reading the advance publicity for the concert.  Notwithstanding his exertions with the Weber and the encore, Maximiliano was back on stage, as the scoring of the Vranický includes a pair of clarinets.  A majestic opening Adagio march led into a lighter Haydnesque theme, reminiscent of the slow movement of Haydn’s Symphony No. 101, “The Clock”.  The allegro molto proceeded as a conventional sonata form, the principal idea very like that of Mozart’s Overture to ‘The Marriage of Figaro’.  I was particularly struck by the similarities between the very fine wind writing and that of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony, composed in the same year.  The overall mood was dramatic, optimistic and engagingly entertaining, if not perhaps of an entirely individual character.  Beautifully played and very pleasant listening, but to be perfectly honest on the basis of the first movement alone, I doubt I would have been tempted to search out any more of the 60 or so symphonies in Vranický’ s oeuvre.  That changed.  After the first movement, Vranický appears to abandon the symphonic ground-plan and revert to the form of a suite.  There is no real slow movement.  The “Russe”, in the style of a gavotte, is as muscular an Allegretto as it is elegant, and sustains further comparison with Beethoven’s Eighth.  The “Polonese” does what it says on the tin, a Polish dance in ¾ time taking the place of a Minuet-and-Trio.  The finale begins Largo for winds only, lovely harmonies expertly played – the tone and balance of the SCO’s period horns and bassoons particularly deserving of praise.  But then, with a fanfare of trumpets and those lovely baby timpani, the Rondo Allegro, essentially a galop, but I’m calling it an absolute romp, was under way, a hoot from start to finish.  So, my final verdict on Vranický’ s Symphony in D is that it compares very favourably with Beethoven’s Eighth and is well worth the candle. 

Another triumph for our wonderful Chamber Orchestra.