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Dvořák, Glazunov, Borodin: Alexandra Soumm (violin), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Alexander Lazarev, Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 30.1.2009 (SRT) 

Dvořák: The Water Goblin

Glazunov: Violin Concerto

Borodin: Symphony No. 2


This was a concert of fabulous orchestral colour, but at times too much weight. Dvořák’s magical Water Goblin made a fantastic opener. This, like most of his symphonic poems, is based on a pretty grim tale by Czech poet Karel Jaromir Erben. In the story a young girl is kidnapped by an evil lake-dwelling goblin and forced to marry him. When he eventually allows her to return to the surface to visit her mother the goblin keeps their child as insurance that she will return. However she does not, and in the final pages of the score the goblin hurls the child’s battered body up against the door of her house in fury. For all its dark subject material Lazarev found a black humour in the goblin’s music. The playful, filigree opening positively glittered, and the section where his theme depicts his kidnapping of the girl was quite darkly funny. The various sections of the orchestra sparkled throughout, and the horrible climax carried real power, before the goblin’s theme died away in a surprisingly moving coda. 

The soloist in the Glazunov was 20-year old Alexandra Soumm, a real phenomenon. She coped with the exacting demands of this concerto with astonishing virtuosity and a real sense of showmanship. The cadenza, which bridged the second movement and finale, was undeniably stunning, but not showy: she managed to create a sense of expectancy before the folk-influenced finale burst in, led by the dependable RSNO brass section. She was at her best in the arching melody which the violin introduces at the start of the slow movement.  She then fired off some amazing runs, double-stops and quickfire pizzicati in a finale which barely paused for breath. She took four ovations which were clearly well earned. Definitely one to watch.

The Borodin, one of the most significant of all Russian symphonies, was a bit more problematic. That weighty opening motto, so difficult to judge, seemed a little uncertain at the outset, as did the first appearance of the second subject on the cellos. Lazarev leaned into the motto much more heavily at the start of the recapitulation and, rightly, in the coda, though he wasn’t afraid to broaden the tempo when the second subject reappeared in the development. The weightiness of the first movement didn’t really let up in the scherzo, however, which felt a little cumbersome in spite of the flighty orchestration. The serenades which bookend the slow movement were a delight (how could they not be?), but the string section in the middle felt ponderous, despite the dedication of the players.  The finale was brisk and pacy, though again the moment where the trombones intone a section of Orthodox chant felt over-extended and held up the progress of the action unduly. Lazarev definitely has a Russian feel for this work’s grandeur, but it wasn’t tempered with a feel for Borodin’s lighter textures. A satisfying evening, nonetheless, and the orchestral textures remain fantastic.

Simon Thompson


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