Zavod - Mosolov
Viola Concerto - Giya Kancheli
Symphony No 8 - Shostakovich
Itis hard to imagine two orchestral pieces more contrasted than those which opened last Friday night's concert at the NCH. Four minutes of cacophonous, mechanical brutalism - Mosolov's Zavod, written in the late 1920s to celebrate Stalinist industrialism - were followed by nearly forty minutes of quiet, slow music.
This second piece was by the Georgian composer Giya Kancheli (born 1935), who has developed individual ways of working with historical and folk styles without using direct quotation. Subtitled "Mourned by the Wind" and written in 1989, his Viola Concerto prolongs short and simple ideas through repetition and vivid, varied colouring. The contribution by the National Symphony Orchestra and conductor Alexander Anissimov was impressive; but it was the viola playing of Daniel Raiskin - extraordinary in its control of colour, tone and timing - which made this performance.
This was the sort of programme which suits Anissimov and the NSO. Despite occasional weaknesses of ensemble and balance, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 had most things one would hope for, including passion (Anissimov smashed his baton halfway through the first movement). This was an extreme performance of an extreme piece; but it was driven by deep understanding of what that music intends to achieve.