ICO/Widmann

RDS, Dublin. Mozart – Idomeneo Overture. Jörg Widmann – Ikarische Klage. Weber – Clarinet Concerto No 1. Mozart – Symphony No 40.

It's always interesting to hear different orchestras in different venues on successive nights. On Friday, the RTÉ NSO gave a lighter than usual account of Beethoven's EroicaSymphony at the National Concert Hall. And on Saturday, the much smaller Irish Chamber Orchestra gave high-impact performances of Mozart at the RDS Concert Hall.

The acoustic of the RDS venue has definitely been improved in recent years. But the sound is still rather boxed in, and can become quite cluttered at higher volume levels. When a conductor encourages the players to dig deep and blow hard, as Jörg Widmann did frequently on Saturday, the results can become very exciting indeed, as if the players are somehow striving to raise the roof.

Widmann is what you might call a modern romantic in Mozart. He likes his Mozart to sound bold in projection, strong in colouring and emotional in its thrust. But he’s never sentimental, no matter how interventionist his shaping of detail becomes.

His handling of both the opening IdomeneoOverture and the closing G minor Symphony were of the kind to keep his listeners on the edges of their seats.

His own composition, Ikarische Klage (Icarian Lament)for 10 strings proved to be a slight affair that dwelt rather too long on its ideas before an interesting shift in gear towards the end.

On Saturday it was Widmann the performer who triumphed, especially when he turned from conductor and composer into clarinettist, for a performance of Weber’s First Clarinet Concerto.

Here his manner was heroic, dramatic (he is also, of course, a composer of operas), dolefully soulful, and he brought a sometimes cackling sometimes giggling virtuoso wit to the sparkling finale. The players of the ICO were with him all the way in intent, although there were moments to suggest that the orchestra’s new wind players haven’t all settled satisfactorily into their roles yet.