Just over 700 years ago there began the oldest military treaty in the world, the Auld Alliance - between France and Scotland. It lasted for well over 250 years, largely at the expense of England. The Concert started the Orchestra’s seventh and final season under its very popular conductor, Stéphane Denève, whose accent as he welcomed us remains very French. Despite this he does a pretty mean mimic of a Glaswegian. The First Minister of Scotland sat beside the French Ambassador, who was up from London, and nearby were Scotland’s Culture Secretary and French Consul General in Edinburgh.
Debussy’s Marche écossaise has its origins in an old bagpipe tune and what better to start the season were the three pipers, Craig Muirhead, Scott Wood and Iain Crawford, from the National Youth Pipe Band of Scotland standing just below the organ console. They played us in with the theme tune, known to pipers as Meggernie Castle. Without a break the Orchestra went straight into Debussy’s version.
Nobody is more popular on the Usher Hall stage with the violin than Scotland’s own Nicola Benedetti who played Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy. There were plenty of traditional Scottish folk melodies building up the finale with Scots wha hae.
After the interval Stéphane Denève again took the microphone to tell us about a young Frenchman, Fabien Waksman, whose Le parfum d’Aphrodite had been commissioned by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and dedicated to Stéphane Denève. The music was written in the knowledge that it was to precede Debussy’s La Mer. And what an enjoyable work it was - Aphrodite, the legend goes, was born out of the foam of the sea. We heard very real sounds of water in a quiet sea that soon became rougher, providing some enchanting melodies. For a while it was as if a small chamber orchestra was all that was needed, before returning us to a calmer sea. The composer came on stage to an emotional congratulations from the conductor and the applause of a very appreciative audience.
It would be wrong of me not to mention the arrival of young Aleksei Kiseliov as the Orchestra’s Principal Cellist. The RSNO’s gain is the Orpheus Sinfonia’s loss where he was much adored by patron, Dame Judi Dench, and its devoted audience in St George’s Hanover Square and at the Cadogan Hall. I claim a tiny part in the creation of Orpheus where the real credit goes to the late Robert Spooner, a great fan of Aleksei’s, and the indefatigable Marc Corbett-Weaver.
Event: Friday 30 September 2011 7.30 pm.
RSNO concerts are on many Friday nights throughout the winter.
There’s an informative talk beforehand, usually at 6.45 pm.