Raymond Gubbay Christmas Festival Concert,  'Russian Spectacular' : Graham Scott (piano) Manchester Concert Orchestra conducted by Edward Warren, The Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. 26.12. 2007(RJF)

Tchaikovsky, Fantasy Overture, Romeo and Juliet. Polonaise and Waltz from Eugene Onegin. 1812 Overture.
Rachmaninov, Piano Concerto No 2.
Glinka, Overture, Ruslan and Ludmilla.
Borodin, Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor.
Mussorgsky, The Great Gate of Kiev.


The Raymond Gubbay organisation’s extensive contribution to Manchester’s Musical Christmas 2007 (preview) opened on December 2^nd at the Bridgewater Hall with a rare opportunity to hear its mighty organ;  and continued the following weekend at the Manchester Arena with a musical and firework spectacular. This concert, appropriately titled Russian Spectacular ended with big firework bangs, Catherine wheels and sparkling showers at the conclusion of a vibrant playing of Tchaikovsky’s celebration of the relief of Moscow in 1812.

Russian opera and orchestral music has its own particular patina. In the UK we seldom hear any music composed in Russia before the latter decades of the nineteenth century and the work of the ‘mighty five’ as they were called. Apart from the ballet music of Tchaikovsky, and in the final decade of the century the symphonic and concerto compositions by Rachmaninov, the introduction was often via the mighty episodic operas of Glinka, Borodin and Mussorgsky all relating to the real, or Pushkin imagined, history of the country. This was a period when melody and drama in music were of paramount importance and it is no surprise that the selected populist compositions for this concert featured the music it did. Russian history, intermingled as it is with both the orient and the Orthodox Church, is full of spectacle and the concert’s title was wholly appropriate here.

After a somewhat tentative start in the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture the sonorous strings of the Manchester Concert orchestra were soon heard to good effect with Edward Warren stressing the dramatic over the lyrical. Together with the Rachmaninov concerto, this comprised a wholly balanced and satisfactory first half as Graham Scott  stressed the lyrical aspects of the concerto's Moderato first movement. His power in the big chords was not lacking whilst in the second movement Adagio,  his careful awareness of the flutes produced a lovely haunting effect. In the third movement, the string opening illustrated to perfection the quality of the orchestra and  balanced Scott’s playing nicely under Warren’s firm beat.  This trio of conductor, soloist and orchestra illustrates something often forgotten in British music circles, the strength owed to the North West of England. Warren, for a long time principal bassoonist at the Royal Liverpool Symphony Orchestra,  studied conducting under Vernon Handley, whilst Graham Scott was at school in Manchester before studying at the Manchester Royal Northern School of Music where he recently became Head of Keyboard. His pianistic skill has taken him all over the world, from winning International Competitions in the late 1980s and early 1990s to playing under some of the greatest conductors at the best addresses. It was a particular pleasure for a well-filled Bridgewater Hall to hear such a balanced rendering of this concerto which  is too often simply an excuse for excessive rubato and overt pianistic exhibitionism.

Warren and the orchestra made a further spectacular -  in the best sense -  start to the second half with playing of verve and vitality in Glinka’s overture, Ruslan and Ludmilla. The following Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor, despite a well-modulated start and good tymps in the second theme, made me yearn for a chorus, let alone dancers. There was plenty of rhythmic vitality in both the Borodin as the following Polonaise and Waltz from Eugene Onegin with Warren becoming more balletically animated to go along with his strong beat. He and the orchestra made the most of Mussorgsky’s The Great Gate of Kiev with solid orchestral chording matching the strident bells; quite as thrilling as the composer intended and just like the Coronation scene from Boris.

The Great Gate of Kiev, with the tympani on full alert was something of a prelude to the concluding 1812 Overture with Warren leading the two front desk cellos and violas in a sonorous and well modulated opening before letting the woodwind and the rest of the strings and orchestra off the leash in a carefully controlled manner to  lead up to the climactic bangs triumphal shouts and tymps again Everyone else was too busy by half, at the end.

As well as bringing some of the music from this golden era of Russian music making, the programme   provided a professional challenge to the Manchester Concert Orchestra. It is worth noting  that the orchestra was formed only in 1997 by Raymond Gubbay to perform concerts of popular music at the Bridgewater Hall and other venues in the North West of England. As the programme puts it,  the orchestra is now a major force in the region, providing a wide variety of music and also touring regularly to other venues in the UK. I was particularly impressed not only by their quality across the sections but with the balance of ages, with young faces on some first desks. As I noted in the preview referred to earlier,  the orchestra is contributing to a number of concerts in the 2007 Raymond Gubbay Christmas Festival. Long may they and the Festivals continue.

Robert J Farr

 

Back to Top                                                    Cumulative Index Page