United Kingdom Grieg, Sibelius, Tarrodi: Eric Lu (piano), Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Ryan Bancroft (conductor). City Halls Glasgow, 9.11.2024. (GT)
Andrea Tarrodi – Lucioles (Fireflies)
Grieg – Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.16
Sibelius – Symphony No.5 in E-flat major, Op.82
This programme was the second in the ‘New Dimensions’ concert series exploring the soundworld of the Nordic countries. The previous evening featured music of contemporary composers – yet this concert combined two popular works with a modern-day Swedish composer – Andrea Tarrodi – a composer regarded as among Scandinavia’s finest young talents. Her piece Lucioles (Fireflies), written in 2011, was inspired by the French writer and haiku specialist Francois JJ Ribes: ‘By the lily leaves the fireflies anchor the lake is illuminated’. The piece is an evocative picture of lakeside insect life.
The piece opened hesitantly with an idea on the cello of Philip Higham and from André Cebrian on the flute and the solo violin of Sophia Prodanova, fashioning a shimmering glow of light which led to an alluring strike on the percussion. The harmonies were exchanged between the low and high strings, and every so often, Tarrodi’s orchestral imagery invoked association with John Adams’s finest orchestral canvases as the strings developed a passage of scintillating excitement that rose to a storming climax before slowly dying away on the flute and violin into beguilingly serene calmness. Lasting just ten minutes, this was a vividly orchestrated piece, and I heard enough to be interested in hearing more from this young Swedish composer.
The programming of the ever-popular Grieg Piano Concerto with Sibelius’s equally popular Fifth Symphony was somewhat unusual for this orchestra. However, the orchestra seemed out of sorts under the American-born Ryan Bancroft. The orchestral imbalance was evident in the grand opening of Grieg’s concerto – however, the virtuosity of the American Eric Lu prevailed in the choral cascading opening bars. The stirring opening is perhaps only equalled by Tchaikovsky’s B-flat major Concerto in preparing the audience for excitement and passionate emotions as expressed here in Lu’s vividly proclaimed arpeggios. Bancroft was dynamic in his constantly gyrating arms. In the extended Allegro molto moderato, there were marvellous contributions from the clarinet of Maximiliano Martin, and again from the flute of Cebrian, and most notably, a glorious passage from the horn of Chris Gough. The cadenza had every ounce of brilliance and virtuosity. Yet, strangely, there was little affinity between conductor and soloist, and the orchestra often seemed not quite their usual selves, especially in the ensemble playing. There was little or no eye contact between the conductor and the soloist. This did not hinder the richly folk-inspired Norwegian harmonies emerging with flute solos and the verdant strings heralding the beauty of the gorgeous folk theme in the final cadenza and leading to the fervent idea performed by the orchestra and piano in the exciting climax.
The Sibelius Fifth Symphony has long been in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s repertoire, yet I thought this performance lacked the clarity in expression that one associates with this orchestra. I can only blame this on the conductor making his debut with these players. There was a lack of depth, with the three double basses at the back of the hall away from the cellos (previously they were behind them). This affected the tonal colours in portraying the nature of the composer’s homeland and the magical atmosphere created by his score. The transition between the opening movement and the slow movement was not handled well, albeit there was outstanding virtuosity from Gough on the horn and fine woodwind playing. Nevertheless, Bancroft’s conducting ensured the finale was superbly executed with the closing six chords sounding grand and magnificent.
It was the fine performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto which was at the centre of this concert, and I look forward to many more visits by Eric Lu to Scotland, and one hopes we will hear more of Andrea Tarrodi’s music. Enough was heard to warrant more of her compositions being performed and thankfully another piece ‘Serenade in Seven Colours’ is available on the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s digital channel, available here.
Gregor Tassie