A Weekend of Music
Friday: RSNO Three pieces.
- A new commission by Paul Chihara, A Japanese, as a child in a relocation camp in the US during WW2. The piece was called A Matter of Honor. Music and Narration. The last narration finished with “when asked in 1942 if she believed that peace and freedom were possible anywhere in the world: “Yes, with all my heart, because in this faith, in that hope, is my future, and the world’s future”
- Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninov. The pianist was Olga Kern and required much stamina to be heard over the full orchestra which she did
- Symphony No5 by Prokofiev. The ultimate antidote to Brexit.
How Rachmaninov and Prokofiev got by the Russian sensors in 1934 and 1942 is unclear to me as both were certainly not in the classical style of Brahms; much more ‘romantic’.
Saturday Scottish Opera performing Katya Kabanova by Janacek. The music to me is tremendous, the Scenery of based around the Volga with a bridge over was a construction to be marvelled at. All so much as to overawe the singing. Katya throws herself into the Volga at the end, not surprising as the possessive Mother in Law was demonic; not one to welcome home!
And today Sunday, a much more relaxed performance with Dvorak, Bartok and Strauss by the strings of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra. The Strauss was Metamorphosen. One of his last pieces and one to let the music wash over you. It was written for 23 strings but the SCO managed very well with just 7. Strauss wrote it on the back of WW2. Will see a Musician of his calibre to write similar music on the back of Brexit; we can only hope.
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