<<  -- 4 --  Malcolm Miller    St Petersburg Revelations

The Russian Chamber Orchestra of London's vibrant sonority was displayed to great effect again in the third UK première, that of the Fanfare and Requiem by Yuri Falik, a composer with a distinctive, often ravishing approach to new tonality. Particularly fascinating was the way in which hints of biting dissonance inflected the long breathed lyricism so reminiscent of Barber and Copland, with a Russian sense of nostalgia, one that well conveyed the intense emotion suggested by the title. Especially effective was the idiomatic use of the medium, for instance the rhetorical power of allowing simple ostinato figures to continue beyond the stretches of melody they accompany, a device Tchaikowsky also uses eloquently in his Serenade, that concluded the programme.

In this popular masterpiece the Russian Chamber Orchestra of London came fully into their own, with Alexander Walker welding the ensemble with tremendous energy and immediacy. A former student of Ilya Musin in St Petersburg, Walker's has a strong affinity for the Russian style, which came across in the intensity and warmth of this fully engaging performance. The orchestra responded with rich sonorities, especially Tchaikovsky's many chordal themes, and after the balance of sumptuous melodic writing and delicacy in the Waltz, the touching Elegie was imbued with just the right amount of nostalgia, the finale bristling with zest. It formed a stirring conclusion to this rewarding and enlightening programme, an initiative for which much credit is due to the St Petersburg Revelations festival organisers. It whetted the appetite for more exposure to Russian music and performances by the promising RCO.