Force of Destiny Overture - Verdi
Baba Yaga - Liadov
Kikimora - Liadov
Introduction, Theme and Variations - Rossini
Polovtsian Dances - Borodin
Fergus Sheil's conducting debut with the National Symphony Orchestra made a strong, positive impression. At the National Concert Hall last Tuesday lunchtime he directed a programme of 19th-century Russian and Italian music, some of it quite demanding.
One of the consistent points of this concert was its defined characterisation. Sheil knew what he wanted, and on the whole he delivered it, thanks to some committed and responsive playing from the NSO.
All the music had dramatic or operatic connections. It seemed that Sheil's background in opera - he has worked with Wexford Festival Opera, Lyric Opera and Opera Ireland, and is presently chorus master for Scottish Opera - made this a programme where he could be at his strongest.
Borodin's Polovtsian Dances can sound bitty, and Verdi's Force of Destiny Overture easily so. In the latter, Sheil's good pacing of events, his proportional tempos and his definition of orchestral detail, gave to this collation of operatic extracts a truly dramatic progress. The Borodin had a compelling mix of exotic charm and controlled barbarism.
John Finucane had the full measure of the opera-style writing for solo clarinet in Rossini's Introduction, Theme and Variations. It was the best of the several performances of this piece I have heard in the last few years, partly because the orchestral accompaniment was so flexible yet focused.
In parts of Liadov's Baba Yaga there were occasional problems with balancing complex textures.
But this was one of the few faults in a rewarding concert.