The Herald - Review December 2011
The Herald
Published on 8 December 2011
By Catherine Robb
Baltic Renaissance
Tuesday 6 December 2011
Rating: *****
There is something comforting about listening to the Scottish Ensemble at work, making it easy to submit to their intimate charm and experimental programme choices. Their December concert, Baltic Renaissance, was one such experiment that most definitely paid off. Interspersing 17th-century English music with 20th-century pieces from all three Baltic regions initially seems like a strange and slightly illogical way to programme a concert, but not for the Scottish Ensemble. From the amalgamation of genres and historical periods, the ensemble created a convincing, inviting and technically brilliant evening of music.
The compositions from Baltic composers Kutavičius, Tüür, Pärt and Vasks were hauntingly beautiful, brimming with fervour while also allowing space for the soulful and disquieting harmonies to shimmer through the densely warm string textures. These were pieces that are obscure and mostly unheard of, but the ensemble made them sound like familiar classics. The romantic and minimalist sounds were juxtaposed comfortably with Byrd’s Fantasia No 2 and Purcell’s Dance Of The Furies and Fantasia Upon One Note, which were played as stately and vigorous interludes to the intense Baltic resonances.
This year’s winter musical experiment not only produced thought-provoking music, but also highlighted how every piece of music we listen to or play is connected in some way, how music is influenced by everything around it. But it is only this ensemble that would have endeavoured such a programme and presented us with music of such a high quality. Tonight’s concert was proof that the Scottish Ensemble does indeed redefine the purpose and function of the string orchestra.
