The Mozart was snappy and bright, and raised the curtain for Václav Troyan’s Fairy Tales, a Concerto for Accordion. The dazzling soloist was Ksenija Sidorova who managed the balance of sonorities with the orchestra brilliantly. The seven sections, which add up to more of a suite than a traditional concerto, each created descriptions of scenes or characters. The music was tunefully direct and never developed beyond the needs of its structure and purpose. It was intriguing to watch and to hear and it was very much worth getting to know.
Ms Sidorova’s encore, with a quintet of string principals from the orchestra, was a wonderfully idiomatic and entertaining performance of a fantasia on Astor Piazzolla’s Chiquilin de Bachin – really sophisticated music making.
Thomas de Hartmann is a Ukrainian composer to whom we have been introduced before by Mr Karabits. The 12 short vignettes labelled Fairy Tales, developed from a piano score by the composer, had a certain amount of cross-over in feel with Pictures and an Exhibition. We met fantastic creatures and places, each described with remarkable economy yet adding up to a truly moving experience – not least in the beautiful depiction of the Princess by clarinet and piano.
To conclude an evening dedicated to otherworldly concepts, Tchaikovsky led us into the Dante-inspired world of Francesca da Rimini – not a comfortable place to be!
The emotional complexity and challenging rhythmic demands of this piece surely make it a work which, shall we say, requires detailed rehearsal. Fortunately, this kind of thing is where Mr Karabits and the BSO excel. Tempi were finely judged, overall shape was clearly delineated and passion was fully explored, but without becoming hyperbolically hysterical. When played well like this, Francesca is as compelling and involving Tchaikovsky as any of his works.
It was a pleasure to see and hear the old Chief again. We look forward to future collaborations. His return coincided with the retirement from the orchestra after 38 years’ service of the highly respected first violinist, Tim Fisher. As a great character in the engine room of this marvellous orchestra, he will be much missed. CEO Dougie Scarfe paid moving tribute at the start of the second half of the evening.
Member and Supporter Tom Wickson
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