The two composers featured in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra concert at the Queen’s Hall were Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms who were close friends. Brahms visited Schumann and his wife Clara (a virtuoso pianist) when he was twenty and a deep friendship developed between them with Schumann promoting Brahms as his protégé. When Schumann tragically died in an asylum three years later Brahms remained devoted to Clara for the rest of his life.
Schumann was a central figure in the romantic era [he abandoned his law studies to concentrate on music] and the concert began with one of his first symphonies, finally completed in 1841. It was conducted with great precision by the Finnish conductor, Olari Elts. He has performed with the SCO before and obviously has a good rapport with the musicians and it was impressive the sound created by the chamber orchestra in performing a symphony.
The Queen’s Hall is an intimate setting and this was particularly enhanced by the next composition, Brahms Four Preludes and Serious Songs sung by the Austrian baritone Markus Werba, who was only a couple of feet away from the front row of the stalls.
These deeply moving songs, Brahms’ last major work, were composed using text from Ecclesiasticus and concluded with the well known extract from Corinthians “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels.”
They were composed in an impassioned response to a stroke his beloved Clara had suffered and Werba’s rich, resonant tones, coupled with his interpretation of the words, magnificently mirrored these emotions, which were complemented by the sensitive playing, particularly in the string section.
Next on the programme was another orchestral work by Schumann – Overture, Scherzo and Finale. Incorporating additional brass, one can hear how Schumann felt more confident in writing this type of composition as there is far greater fluidity in the music and it concludes with a grand finale.
The mood of the evening was again uplifted by Brahms Liebeslieder: Nine Waltzes – with the text from Georg Friedrich Daumer’s collection Polydora, one of Brahms favourite poets.
The SCO chorus, under the direction of their choirmaster Gregory Batsleer, were in superb voice with perfect German enunciation. And in the final piece of the programme – Schumann’s Nachtlied - they quite surpassed themselves. Schumann wrote this in a frenzy, completing it in a week (perhaps he knew he only had a limited time left to compose).
The text is by Friedrich Hebbel and Schumann’s music, in the middle text, is reminiscent of Dylan Thomas’ “Rage, rage against the dying of the Light” with its tumult of emotions. A superb performance by all.
Friday 30 November – Glasgow City Halls 7.30pm
Tickets: £13 - £27 (concs available)