Elim Chan and the RSNO thrill in three-concerto programme

The Royal Scottish National Orchestra certainly made an impact with this monster of a concert at the Edinburgh International Festival, comprising three concertos. It was heartening to see a very busy Usher Hall for a programme of relatively unfamiliar music, the headline the Scottish premiere of Wynton Marsalis's Trumpet Concerto with Alison Balsom. Schoenberg’s Piano Concerto provided a central contrast with Lutosławski's huge Concerto for Orchestra pinning us into our seats for its thrilling ride.

Marsalis wrote his Trumpet Concerto for Cleveland Orchestra’s principal trumpet Michael Sachs, but Alison Balsom has taken the work further, visiting the composer to thrash out technical details. It is a long challenging work, the soloist barely silent for the entire six movements, but Marsalis insists every note is there for a reason. Conductor Elim Chan controlled her forces with pinpoint precision, matching Balsom’s virtuosic performance that began with an elephant trumpeting in the jungle and then took us on a tour of styles and techniques. 

The work is lyrical and enjoyably rhythmic, five busy percussionists judiciously adding musical spice as Balsom’s trumpet made astonishing runs and leaps in an opening march. A slower interlude with late-night jazzy harmonies had lush strings and soft big band brass with a lovely oboe and trumpet passage. Marsalis moves the piece swiftly on to new ideas, Chan cooking up a thrilling 5/4 African-Hispanic storm with added handclaps, Balsom showcasing extraordinary trumpet tricks. A bluesy movement with mutes, including a hat, was a moment of filmic calm with moving chorale lines. A final edgy frantic gallop culminated in a huge crash before a quiet chorus of orchestral jungle noises grew, and the elephant was back. Balsom’s stamina was impressive as she coolly embraced a range of styles harking back from Marsalis New Orleans roots to the contemporary, winning sustained applause.

Schoenberg wrote his Piano Concerto in exile in the USA, the four interconnected movements, each with text annotation representing his autobiographical journey. The restless work is a conversation between soloist and orchestra in four linked movements, soloist Pierre-Laurent Aimard setting up a flowing dialogue as Chan carefully shaped her forces in the “Life is good” Andante, Aimard sympathetic to the underlying waltz. Overcast skies gave way to orchestral explosions as “suddenly hatred broke out”, Aimard and Chan navigating the fierce disruptive flourishes with striking con legno and the strange sound world of muted trombones with violas. “A grave situation was created” in the sombre Adagio with an exploratory cadenza from Aimard before the work raced away agitatedly towards better times: “Life goes on” but clearly times are troubled as orchestra and pianist remained percussively angular right to the end of this compelling but disturbing work. 

Lutosławski Concerto for Orchestra was written in 1954 as the composer was transitioning from a folkloric style to aleatoric, the three-movement work moulding themes with dramatic dissonance. It is a tremendously exciting gritty and passionate work requiring large forces and a conductor with circus master skills. From the Intrada’s initial ostinato timpani, the work gripped players and audience alike as bright woodwinds and white-knuckle passages of urgent rhythmic unison kept a relentless momentum. The Capriccio was full of flowing themes with mixed textures and dynamics, Chan calming then precisely rebuilding the music with tight pizzicato strings. In the final movement, a serious solemn passacaglia moved to a manic toccata as the strings' ranks took off with a purpose and finally a slower and richer chorale developed. Chan’s conducting was lively and precise, urging her forces on, yet holding something back for the end, which came as a huge thrilling finish.