RSNO & Nicola Benedetti, Edinburgh review: 'sensational'
Nicola Benedetti, Kirill Karabits and the RSNO proved a winning combination for this performance of Elgar’s Violin Concerto, writes Susan Nickalls
RSNO & Nicola Benedetti, Usher Hall, Edinburgh ★★★★★
This was one of those rare performances where the stars aligned to allow a stratospheric level of music-making. Take an orchestra at the top of their game and the commanding inspiration of conductor Kirill Karabits, add to the mix the phenomenal talents of Nicola Benedetti, who ripped the Edwardian straight-jacket right off Elgar’s marathon of a violin concerto and the outcome was simply sensational.
Benedetti enthralled us for nearly an hour with the concerto’s gritty poetic beauty. She elegantly swept through the breathy virtuosity of the lengthy allegro with its “windflower” themes into a sublime andante, unfurling the rich tonal colours of her violin. Throughout this finely calibrated reading, Karabits maintained a perfect dynamic between soloist and orchestra, the frenetic final movement pausing only for Benedetti’s soulful cadenza, shaded with ethereal strings and a whispering horn.
Like Elgar’s concerto, Stravinsky’s The Firebird was first performed in 1910, and Karabits applied the same precision to this electrifying reading of the full ballet score. Based on a fairy tale about an evil sorcerer, a prince and a magical bird, the basses and counter bassoons underpinned the work with mysterious chromaticism while the flutes giggled with impish laughter. Everything came together with a shimmering array of percussion, swirling harps and twinkly celesta, for a fantastical climax.
These glittering textures were echoed in Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s evening opener, Nagillar. Also drawing on a folktale, in this case the 1,001 Nights, the orchestra revelled in a flurry of exotic effects. But while these worked well in the sparky opening and closing sections, it needed more substance in between to hold the attention.
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