SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Grieg, Daugherty, Tchaikovsky: Terrence Wilson (piano), Royal Scottish National Orchestra, David Danzmayr (conductor), Usher Hall, Edinburgh, 29.1.2010 (SRT)

Grieg: Peer Gynt Suit No. 1

Michael Daugherty: Deus ex Machina (UK Premiere)

Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5

This concert marks the end of David Danzmayr’s tenure as RSNO assistant conductor. In his three years in the post he hasn’t conducted a huge number of concerts but in my experience his direction has been characterised by exciting energy and pace, something that leapt out of his interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s fifth symphony. The finale especially crackled with electricity and at times the brass were used almost as a weapon of war! This didn’t stop him from relaxing in the waltz, however, and the slow movement was taken at just the right pace, with a gorgeously played horn solo from John Logan, interrupted by shattering statements of the “fate” theme from the brass. Danzmayr has an interesting habit of playing about with the tempi in a surprising way: the final bars moved at a fair lick before an extraordinary rit. for the final triplet. It’s more often interesting than annoying, though, something that was also true of Peer Gynt. The Death of Aase especially was incredibly moving, all the more so because of the way the final bars died away with intense slowness (though admittedly it would have been far more moving had the woman in the second row not chosen that very moment to break into a frenzy of coughing!). Elsewhere Grieg’s extraordinary palate of colours was on full display, though the climax of the Hall of the Mountain King was a little underplayed.

The most interesting work of the evening was the UK Premiere of Michael Daugherty’s Deus ex Machina, a musical response to the world of trains. The work takes the form of a quasi-piano concerto, and Terrence Wilson was on cracking form throughout, articulating with equal brilliance the abstract lines and the more stridently melodic moments. The first movement was inspired by 20^th century paintings of trains, including a surreal work by Magritte wherein a train bursts from a fireplace. Daugherty evokes the train warming up by having the pianist strum the keys inside the piano lid at the beginning and this is followed by a sequence of unsettling chromatic runs that fit the surrealist context. The piece then moved into a rhythmic, almost cinematic depiction of a train in full motion before dying away on a bass drum thud. The third movement carried a fun element of jazz swagger to it with riffs reminiscent of Gershwin and some sweepingly lyrical string writing. The highlight, however, was the middle movement, Train of Tears, which depicted the final journey of the body of Abraham Lincoln as it was transported from Washington D.C. to its burial in Springfield, Illinois. As the train passed through seven states it was met by millions of mourners who lined the tracks to pay their farewells to the great president. The darkly intense opening, with a funereal piano line, gave way to a really very beautiful episode as solo trumpet and cor anglais played a version of the funeral song Taps, a song often played to accompany soldiers’ funerals. More than in the other movements this one carried a real sense of development to it, a feeling that, like the trains it was depicting, this music was really going somewhere. The almost valedictory trio for piano, oboe and cor anglais was beautifully poignant, while the hypnotic episode towards the end for the piano and dreamy strings built to a symphonic climax. This is a major work from a hugely interesting composer, and it’s a tribute to the RSNO that they secured the work’s UK premiere. It’s also a fitting high for Danzmayr to go out on.

Simon Thompson