National Symphony Orchestra/Colman Pearce

Capriccio espagnole - Rimsky-Korsakov

Cello Concerto in C - Haydn

Symphony No. 7 - Dvorak

The annual series of weekly, early-evening orchestral concerts at the National Concert Hall began last Wednesday, a change of day from previous years. It was not an auspicious start.

Colman Pearce conducted the National Symphony Orchestra in performances which were often too scrappy for comfort, and not only in ensemble.

Rimsky-Korsakov's Capriccio espagnole has one of the most scintillating openings in late 19th-century orchestral music. But on this occasion balance and rhythm were so uncontrolled that the result was a racket rather than a dazzling display of orchestral colour. Even in slow or quiet music there was no impression of context, because of the lack of goal-driven shaping.

Dvorak's Symphony No. 7 fared better. This music needs long-shaped phrasing and careful co-ordination of speeds for it to sound connected. But we got neither.

It was the accomplished cello playing of Misha Quint which made the most favourable impression of the evening. Many would disagree with his approach to Haydn's Cello Concerto in C, in particular with his very slow tempo and lingering over every event in the second movement. But one could only admire playing which was so fine-toned and which, though a bit under-projected, was so shapely.