Royal Albert Hall, London
With Stravinsky and Copland also on the programme, this was a lively if uneven concert
In their different ways, both Stravinsky and Copland turned to the vernacular to lend authenticity and atmosphere to their ballet scores. Stravinsky incorporated folk tunes and popular song to depict the hurdy-gurdy players and wet nurses of St Petersburg’s bustling Shrovetide fair in Petrushka. For Billy the Kid, Copland used cowboy songs to paint a wild west settlement with its outlaws, saloons and gunfights. Fast-forward 80 years and Gabriel Kahane added a flavour of folk music, though without quoting anything specific, to spice up his clarinet concerto. Written for New York Philharmonic principal clarinet Anthony McGill, the work’s European premiere formed the centrepiece of a lively concert conducted with visible enthusiasm by Ryan Bancroft.
The concerto opened with McGill slipping in seamlessly over shimmering tuned percussion and string glissandi. Elegant scalar passages led into a songful section with a jazz-meets-klezmer vibe. This is immensely likable music, with McGill a confident and stylish soloist. Orchestral textures featured pianos – both grand and muted upright – as well as celesta and percussion, the latter more often than not played unconventionally. The slow movement with its drawn-out lyrical lines found McGill cucumber cool, before eerie bowed vibraphone and a hair-raising cadenza launched a finale with a touch of an Irish jig about it. Kahane himself added a nice personal touch, taking to the stage to sing and play piano for McGill’s silky smooth encore.
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