It would be a stony heart that wasn’t charmed, at least a drop, by the zippy, genial sweep of Andrew Litton’s conducting. Appearing here as a guest with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, he gamely punched the air at climaxes and pointed to the brass section for more; a brave move, or a reckless one, in the dazzlingly bright acoustic of City Halls.
Positives first: there was nothing remotely ponderous or tortured in his account of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. The strings gave well-oiled ardency; the winds were sturdy and soulful, the Adagio’s clarinet solo a rare moment of calm, and the brass made for a blazing, nuance-obliterating finale. The problem was it was so much, so soon, and so very loud: exhilarating until it became exhausting.
And there was no let-up from the rest of the programme. James MacMillan’s Second Piano Concerto is all grotesque clashes of primary colours and misty evocations, folk tunes cutting to disfigured waltzes and fists pounding the keyboard. Soloist Peter Donohoe took it in his stride, robust, spry and rhythmic.
The programme opened with a new work by 26-year-old Mark Simpson, whose programme note explains that in Israfel, inspired by an Edgar Allan Poe lyric poem, he “wanted to write a piece that sang, floated, morphed, moved, moved us, lifted us, had power, had fragility”. The list goes on, covering most bases. The resulting 12-minute score wastes no time unleashing a big, shiny sound with hectic strings, clangy percussion and easy-on-the-ear harmonies blasted out by basses and brass. Actually, there’s something refreshing about Simpson’s honesty. This music isn’t shy; it doesn’t play hard to get. It isn’t trying to be anything but itself, and its blithe, uninhibited energy pays honour to Poe’s “Israfel, who despisest / An unimpassioned song.”
