EIF music reviews: LSO: Beethoven & Shostakovich | The Sidiki Dembele Ensemble + more

LSO: Beethoven & Shostakovich ★★★★★

Usher Hall, Edinburgh

For his first appearance in Edinburgh as the London Symphony Orchestra’s new principal conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano unleashed searing performances of two of the biggest beasts in the symphonic repertoire to launch their festival residency.

There can be few people who don’t recognise that iconic rap on the door of fate that opens Beethoven’s fifth and sits at the heart of this bold and uncompromising work. Not only does Beethoven economically recycle this four-note motif throughout, embracing democracy he also shares it out equally among the sections. Having declaimed his big idea, he draws breath with a more lyrical theme and variations in the andante con moto dominated by soulful cellos.

They also took the lead in the following scherzo, their mysterious tune bringing to mind the image of someone creeping around the house at night. Pappano then skilfully wove together the galloping string rhythms and strident brass for a jubilant and thrilling conclusion to this masterpiece.

This meticulous attention to detail and skilful shaping of the orchestral narrative was also to the fore in Shostakovich’s complex tenth symphony. Shot through with contradictions, the lengthy first movement gives a frightening glimpse of what it means to rebel against tyranny. The complaints started among the woodwind, escalating with the clarinet sounding the alarm, leading to frenzied string outbursts. Pappano and the orchestra created an undertow of dissent and fear throughout, with occasional respite from more soothing clarinet passages.

Said to be a portrait of Stalin, the short militaristic allegro with its menacing snare drum, growling double basses, and overbearing brass was terrifying. In the ironic waltz of the allegretto, the four-note motif representing Shostakovich’s initials finally asserts their authority. The finale then veers between this giddy defiance, doubtful introspection and the four horses of the apocalypse. The LSO were death-defying and brilliant.

Susan Nickalls

Bostridge, Pappano & Members of the LSO ★★★

Queen’s Hall

One of the obvious benefits of the EIF’s orchestral residencies is the opportunity it brings to integrate elements of that presence within the Queen’s Hall chamber music programming and to hear its hand-picked players up close and personal. Such was the case on Wednesday, when a string quartet from the LSO and its chief conductor, Antonio Pappano (on piano), joined forces with guest tenor Ian Bostridge.

The programme featured contrasting shades of Englishness: the vivid imagery of Britten’s song cycle Winter Words; the evocative, folk-infused scents of Vaughan Williams’ On Wenlock Edge; and, in a purely instrumental second half, Elgar’s substantial Piano Quintet in A minor.

Bostridge does imagery and characterisation to perfection. These qualities stood out foremost in the Britten, whether with its impish storytelling, bristling whimsy, or the grotesquerie of The Choirmaster’s Burial. Some climactic moments seemed harshly overdone, but these were few and far between. He and Pappano were a resourceful duo.

Joined by the quartet for the Vaughan Williams, Bostridge softened his delivery to reveal a luxurious warmth, not least in the gorgeously tempered Bredon Hill. If the strings lacked total consistency here, they achieved a more characterful oneness in the Elgar, particularly the slow movement.

Ken Walton

The Sidiki Dembele Ensemble ★★★★

The Hub

According to West African drummer Sidiki Dembele, “there is no music without dancing”. Returning to the Festival for a second consecutive year, he brought a boutique iteration of his ten-piece band with a dancer, Aida, key to the line-up. Meaning business, she took off her earrings to tumble along to Balimaya, which translates as “family”.

Dembele hails from a line of Ivory Coast griots and was destined for music from the age of seven. There were songs for mothers and his griot grandfather in his set, and he likened the atmosphere in the auditorium to a family meeting, eventually teasing out some audience participation with the warmth of his presence. He began in solo rapture with the taut but lyrical timbre of the ngoni before switching to djembe and calabash drums to uncork the energy of the group alongside his polyrhythmic partners on the dundun and balafon.

The latter’s cheeky resonances elicited delighted yelps and whoops while Dembele encouraged gleeful false endings and tempo changes to fox those clapping along. Singer Fatima showcased her remarkable vibrato on the meditative Shaka, but most of the set was a West African party, which finally drew the audience to their feet to receive the encore blessing of a traditional Malian parting song.

Fiona Shepherd