THE BSO’s ‘colour and light’ concert was a great showcase of the ensemble’s dynamic control via the lush tableaux of Debussy’s Printemps and La Mer suites.
Under Fabian Gabel, the orchestra was by turns energetic and elegiac, with an unusually packed brass section adding welcome bite to the more ‘Gallic’ moments of the programme. Lots of horn.
Swiss/Chinese pianist Louis Schwizgebel, 30 this year, demonstrated a precise and delicate touch at the keys for Chopin’s Piano Concerto No.1.
Technically accomplished and sensitive, his playing was received with particular warmth by concert goers.
Before La Mer and its blaring finale brought the event to a close, we were treated to La foret enchantee by Vincent D’Indy, a work of considerable colour and texture.
The programme notes suggest the little known and wonderfully named D’Indy was a disciple of Wagner, and the presence of several suspiciously familiar Ring leitmotif-y phrases in the 1878 piece’s opening minutes suggests as much.
It soon builds into variations on a simple but engaging melody punctuated by sections of vigorous rhythm across the strings.
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