The RSNO's seasons in Edinburgh and Glasgow here presented Mozart's wonderful Requiem in performances under the baton of recently-appointed Principal Guest Conductor Patrick Hahn. The first part of the evening included two fascinating rarities in Beethoven's little known Elegischer Gesang and the hugely moving Violin Concerto by Alban Berg. Berg composed this to the memory of 'an angel', Manon Gropius, teenage daughter of his friends the architect Walter Gropius and wife Alma - née Schindler and widow of Gustav Mahler. The violin soloist in this elegiac masterpiece was Carolin Widmann. These musicians have, it seems, just recorded the concerto - a mouth-watering prospect.
In Edinburgh the conductor's approach to the Mozart was brisker than the lugubrious interpretations we have sometimes heard - and none the worse for that. Three of the soloists, Mhairi Lawson (a lovely silvery soprano), Hanna Hipp, and Jamie MacDougall, were quite familiar, and their voices blended nicely. The baritone, Laurent Naouri. didn't quite fit in that way. As a solo voice - in 'Tuba mirum' for instance, he was fine, but the voice was more powerful than the others - he does sing Verdi, and twenty years ago here he sang Golaud. quite a heavy dramatic role. so the ideal blend was lacking.
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