by Richard Wagner’s spirit hovers over Anton Bruckner’s seventh symphony, the most obvious in the monumental Adagio, only months after the death of the musical hero of the Austrian composer and the occasional drinking buddy. Ryan Wigglesworth’s slow movement occupied somewhat reserved interpretation with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, its statements simple and yet profound. However, this was not a funeral speech, but a nice farewell, his delicate tones occasionally leaned through the phalanx of the Wagner Tubas, which worry the harmonies in the direction of the orchestra.
Wigglesworths conducted from the ear of his composer: orchestral balance was flawless; Instrumental colors mixed with an instinct for details. His way of keeping something in reserve was just as effective, especially in Bruckner, where the slow build is of the greatest importance. In the first movement, the architectural framework was clearly defined, with the conductor pursuing a (mostly) non -interventional approach to phrasing and rubato. Not that the performance was missing, since large brass wodges give way to the sound of lonely flutes in the wilderness. In contrast, the Scherzo was almost captivating. It was left to the final to climb a last mountain and end in a fire of glory.
A similar understanding of the musical trajectory paid dividends in Mozart’s piano concert No. 20. Wigglesworth held the orchestra sound, although his dark presence was always there and lurked under Mariam Batsashvili’s important report on the solo line. The Georgian pianist gave an enthusiastic, controlled performance, notes that fell like liquid pearls. Her choice of Beethoven’s Flinter Kadenza increased the dramatic missions. The central romance was provided with a smooth mercy in front of a fiery finale in which the conductor finally allowed the orchestra. Batsashvili’s encore, Liszts La Campanella, was sent in a blurring of the Corus -related fingers and proves that it can show with the best.
The concert was opened with Laura to Bach, which was composed by the conductor to tribute to the former leader of the BBCSO, who died last year. Inspired by their recording of the gigue from Bach’s third solo partita, Wigglesworth integrated his topics in a complex 10-minute monument for strings, in which the wheels in complicated cannons and dark cello lines with heart pool and lullabies were heavenly.
• Listen again BBC Sounds by October 12th. The proms continue until September 13th.
