RAVEL'S Pavane pour une infant défunte demands of an orchestra the façade of simplicity. The long phrases must be given time to run their course unimpaired by gasps for breath, just as the richly contrived textures demand the steadiest of tones regar
dless of the length of a bow. In this the RSNO succeeded thanks to some stylish playing, from the oboe and horn in particular, that favoured beauty above all else.
Soloist Leonidas Kavakos showed himself equally capable of such unfussy yet mesmerising musicianship in Berg's Violin Concerto. With a glut of technical prowess behind him, Kavakos tackled the fragile opening strains of the Andante with the same confidence as he did the powerfully charged Allegro, marking out his own thoughtful interpretation as he went.
Though the orchestra just about managed to stay abreast, they often lacked something of the assurance that was so central to Kavakos's playing.
Dvorák's Symphony No 7, by comparison, sounded decidedly flat. In spite of the presence of all the requisite ingredients – suitable phrasing, impressive dynamics, nice solos – there seemed to have been rather less invested in this work and nothing of the earlier intensity came through.
