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MacCunn,  Strauss, Mendelssohn and Elgar:  Susan Gritton – Soprano, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Martyn Brabbins – Conductor, City Halls, Glasgow  11. 10.20 07 (MMcN)

MacCunn – The Ship o’ The Fiend,  
Richard Strauss – Four Last Songs,

Mendelssohn – Overture: A Midsummer Night’s Dream,

Elgar – In the South (Alassio): concert overture

There has been considerable comment in the press that the 150^th anniversary of the birth of Edward Elgar has received scant recognition from orchestras in the United Kingdom.

This being so,  the BBC SSO somewhat belatedly decided to make amends by featuring the Concert overture In the South in its lunchtime programme on the 11th of  October in Glasgow’s City Hall.

People often forget that Elgar and Richard Strauss were contemporaries and that  Strauss did, in fact, promote Elgar’s music in Germany.  Given that popular works from both composers were the backbone of this concert, it was perhaps surprising that the audience was somewhat sparse,  particularly since the Strauss work chosen was the Four Last Songs so often selected by castaways in 'Desert Island Discs.'

The Four Last Songs were first performed by Kirsten Flagstad with the Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of the great Wilhelm Furtwangler.  For Thursday’s concert the orchestra was under the baton of Martyn Brabbins, a noted champion of British music, and their soloist was Susan Gritton who is no stranger to Glasgow audiences. 

Since Flagstad’s first performance these songs have received performances from a vast array of notable singers ranging from  Elisabeth Schwarzkopf through to Jane Eaglen. There has been a tendency over the years for the speeds in these songs to become ever slower to their detriment, in my opinion and  as Ms Gritton’s voice is more similar to Madame Schwarzkopf than to the leather lungs of Flagstad, she must have been grateful to conductor Martyn Brabbins for setting speeds which allowed her to negotiate the various technical hurdles if not with complete ease then at least with reasonable comfort.

Not surprisingly,  the singer’s performance grew progressively in terms of warmth and radiance particularly in Beim Schlafengehen although ultimately her interpretation reached its apogee in the final song Im Abendrot where she found her most rapt tone.

Although Maestro Brabbins set an almost ideal tempo in every song and coaxed some exceedingly eloquent playing from all sections of the orchestra, his conducting still lacked a true Straussian feel to my mind. One did not feel that he showed Strauss’ lifelong love of the soprano voice to which these songs bear final testimony.

The high point in this concert was reached in the Elgar performance where the conductor whipped up the orchestra into a frenzy of virtuosity.  This overture has been noticeable by its absence from concert programmes in Scotland and on the basis of this performance there is no reason why this should be the case.  Those in the audience familiar with the composer’s most famous works would have recognised the Elgarian style and swagger despite the obvious sense of Mediterranean warmth that pervades this piece.

The players were clearly in their element here and while it seems invidious to single out sections and principals where all were so committed and enthusiastic, mention must be made of honeyed tone of the string section in their little closing postlude.

Scott Dickinson’s rendition of the lovely viola solo was one to die for and it is to be hoped that this young man might be given the opportunity to give us his account of Harold in Italy with his orchestra.

The concert had opened with a lively and impassioned account of MacCunn’s The Ship ‘o The Fiend which failed to hide the limitation of this music, but the orchestra took every opportunity to demonstrate to us that they can, when required, play with a gossamer touch as they conjured up a musical picture of fairies scurrying hither and thither on the stage.  Such was their prowess in the overture to Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream that one was left with a sense of wanting more of this delightful and evocative music.

This mid-day  programme was nicely varied and while not entirely consistent in quality, certainly  made its mark on the audience who responded with enthusiasm throughout.

Marion MacNeill

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