Love was most certainly the theme for this Valentine's Day concert. The Royal Scottish National Orchestra was back in the Usher Hall following what seemed like quite a long festive break. But they were keen to tell us they had been busy.
Principal flautist Katherine Bryan was host for the pre-concert talk where she was in a lively and fascinating conversation with the evening's conductor, David Niemann. The Orchestra had worked with him before, but this was to be his first appearance for us. He is German and ten years ago emerged as the second prize winner at the Malko Conducting Competition.
Following violinist Liam Lynch's welcome, David Niemann came on stage with soprano Sunyoung Seo. She was born in South Korea and trained in Europe. The Orchestra played the familiar Overture to Wagner's Tannhäuser when Sunyoung Seo sung Elizabeth's ecstatic greeting to the Minstrels' Hall. And quite wonderful it was; her confident voice a joy to hear. We then heard the Prelude from Wagner's Tristan and Isolde and Sunyoung Seo singing of the enduring love between Isolde and Tristan. The Orchestra knew we were going to want more, and without hesitation or further applause the conductor gave us the chance to hear Sunyoung Seo's chosen encore.
David Niemann conducted the very moving Tchaikovsky symphony - his sixth and final, called Pathétique. In English, final suffering. Within days of its completion the composer appears to have drunk contaminated water and died of cholera. A gay man, Tchaikovsky feared prosecution for sexual relations with a male member of the Imperial Court. After a rousing third movement, the final is quiet and ends in silence - a silence David Niemann ensured was fittingly lengthy.
Event: Friday 14th February 2025 at 7.30pm