United Kingdom Rossini, Beethoven, Britten: Robin Johannsen (soprano), Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Lorenza Borrani (director). Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, 5.3.2026. (SRT)
Rossini – Overture, The Barber of Seville
Britten – Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge
Beethoven – Concert Aria: Ah, perfido!; Symphony No. 8
This was one of those concerts where it looked like everybody on the stage was having a completely marvellous time. You would think it would be like that all the time, wouldn’t you? That it isn’t is mostly down to intangible things like chemistry, and that is where Lorenza Borrani comes in. This is the second time I have seen her directing the Scottish Chamber Orchestra from the leader’s chair, and together they manage to achieve a level of responsiveness that you only rarely see. In short, you get the impression the musicians like her, and that came out in a terrific performance of Britten’s Frank Bridge Variations; one which was, by turns, skittish, mischievous, melancholic, strident, or any one of a range of emotional options in between. Wherever Britten was taking us, however, the playing was always gorgeously warm and full of quiet panache, even when it was being savagely virtuosic. If this piece really is a character study then this performance made Bridge seems like someone you would like to be friends with, which I guess was always Britten’s point.
The rest of the concert might not quite have been at that level, though there was little danger of familiarity breeding contempt in an ebullient performance of Beethoven’s Eighth Symphony that sometimes took outrageous liberties with the tempo but, nevertheless, remained impressive by managing to carry them off. Rossini’s Barber of Seville Overture worked by inhabiting the dynamic extremes and by finding a dramatic edge to the musical chuckling, with chattering winds and lithe strings buoying up the natural brass.
And the other Beethoven? Ah, perfido feels like a real oddity to us nowadays, but when you remember that concert arias were quite the thing in the 1790s, it makes a lot more sense. It is remarkable how many sopranos have made this odd beast their own over the years, and so Robin Johannsen was taking a natural if bold step by using it to introduce herself to Scottish audiences. Hers is predominantly a light voice with a raw dramatic edge that she used to great effect in inhabiting the extremes of the heroine’s emotional crisis, even if her soprano remained a little bit squashed at the top. Still, the orchestra under Borrani’s leadership gave her magnificent support, particularly the velvety soft strings that seemed to cushion the emotional mania and provide comforting warmth where it was needed most.
Simon Thompson