SCO, Ben Glassberg & Jess Gillam, Edinburgh review: 'remarkable'
The highlight of this evening of contemporary music was a disarmingly direct and enthusiastic performance from Jess Gillam, writes David Kettle
SCO, Ben Glassberg & Jess Gillam, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh ★★★★
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is clearly onto something with its more informal, more contemporary-focused, more eclectic New Dimensions concerts. Let drinks into the hall, set out table seating, get the conductor and soloist to introduce what they’re doing – it’s interesting how little it takes to lighten the atmosphere, and also how that lighter atmosphere encourages a new openness and sense of focus, even for unfamiliar music.
Not that conductor Ben Glassberg’s opener – Anna Clyne’s Sound and Fury – was strictly unfamiliar: the SCO actually co-commissioned it in 2019 when Clyne was Associate Composer. Glassberg delivered a gritty, urgent account, one that revelled in Clyne’s striking sounds and textures while still navigating her larger structures convincingly.
The same could be said for his luminous reading of Caroline Shaw’s delicate Entr’acte, even if his zippy tempo left some of its harmonic detailing a little blurred. No chance of that, though, with the concert’s beating heart: George Walker’s lush Lyric for Strings soared with barely repressed passion, all the more moving for being held firmly in check by Glassberg’s elegantly shaped reading.
The evening’s real musical focus, however, was remarkable Cumbrian saxophonist Jess Gillam, who glittered her way (quite literally, in that suit) through no fewer than three recent pieces.
Dani Howard’s 2024 Saxophone Concerto conjured iridescent colours and drew passionate, eloquent playing from Gillam, but the piece seemed more focused on atmosphere than musical substance. There was far more to grasp in Dave Heath’s classical/jazzy/poppy The Celtic, which refracted Scottish tunes through Heath’s southern sensibilities.
Best of all was RANT! by Gillam’s erstwhile teacher John Harle, whose fiendish technical demands she negotiated with thrilling abandon, and with a clear affection for its Cumbrian melodies. There was no compromise on insight or seriousness of intent, but Gillam’s disarming directness and enthusiasm encapsulated the evening’s winning freshness.
The Scotsman’s arts newsletter is now sent twice a week - subscribe today
Want the latest Scottish headlines sent directly to your phone? Sign up to our new WhatsApp channel here
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.