Crit 24 June 2006

Mid summer classical concerts seem to be rare in Dundee these days, and it was a special treat to attend Tayside Symphony Orchestra’s event, conducted by Ron Walker in the Caird Hall on Saturday night. As is usual with this orchestra, their programmes tend to be innovative, the most unusual item being a horn concerto by Norwegian composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Plagge.

The concert opened with the Brahms Academic Festival Overture, which was given a brisk and satisfactory reading. This seemed very appropriate for Dundee as several of the local Universities have recently held their graduations.

For the horn concerto, almost the whole wind section of the orchestra departed to leave the strings, an oboe/ English horn and timpani to accompany the soloist. From the first few bars we knew we were in for a treat. The soloist’s superb control of her instrument’s dynamics was immediately apparent, and she appeared to tackle the many bravura passages with ease. The high tessitura range of her horn was totally secure at all times, making exciting listening. The composition, though modern was not too difficult to assimilate on a first hearing.

It has to be said that the strings had a very hard time of it, as the writing for them was clearly awkward for musicians of any standard. On the whole, though, the strings came through this test with flying colours. Not to mention the timpani player who several times was the only accompaniment to the horn. The cadenza in the first movement was superbly judged, and I enjoyed the close harmony between the horn and strings of the slow movement. This performance was indeed a tour de force by Christine Allan, and much credit for the success of the accompaniment must go to conductor Ron Walker. I thought the audience to be a little brief with their applause at the end.

After the interval Dvorak’s New World Symphony was given a splendid reading. Here, the orchestra was in more familiar territory, and their high playing standards were well displayed in this work. There were many wonderful moments. The hall acoustics gave the string section a lovely bloom and this was apparent right through the symphony. I thought the slow movement was just sublime, here the woodwind really shone. The brass had their moments too, especially in the final movement. This was an excellent evening’s entertainment and it is hoped there is a good turn-out for their second performance in Pitlochry on Sunday evening.