Young Ambassador Review: Oundjian Conducts Dvořák Seven

Stirling's Young Ambassador, Seona Glen, reviews Oundjian Conducts Dvořák Seven, Sat 12 Oct at Usher Hall, Edinburgh.

Solo Cellist Sol Gabetta. Photograph by Marco Borggreve

Firstly, I completely loved the whole concert!  It was quite unlike any I have been to before.  The Britten was a fantastic way to open.  The first few powerful bars had me gripped, and the huge sound was overwhelming.  The piece was well chosen, and I thought it was a great way to introduce any newcomers to orchestral music present to the RSNO, in preparation for the perhaps less accessible cello concerto.  Judging by the applause at the end, the rest of the audience enjoyed this piece as much as I did.  I particularly liked the way Oundjian asked each section to stand, as it allowed people in the stalls to see all the players and their instruments in the more hidden sections towards the back.

I thought the cellist, Sol Gabetta, was phenomenal.  Her enthusiasm and body language brought a lot to the whole performance for me, and in some of the sections where the cello stood on it’s own, she had the audience completely captivated.  I especially enjoyed the way you could see a strong connection between her and both the the first violins and the cellos. It was most certainly worth it to get such a close up view of the outside players and of Gabetta’s playing.  As a violin learner I found it fascinating to watch, and I would encourage any other strings learner to sit in the first few rows, so as to watch how the professionals perform.

I am very much looking forward to seeing another RSNO concert soon, and as I have seen many performances in the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, I would be interested to hear how the orchestra sounds in the Usher Hall.

Seona Glen

Seona is part of the RSNO's Young Ambassador scheme, arranged by the Learning and Engagement Department. For more information, visit the RSNO website.

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Young Ambassador's Forum #1: Niamh Mackaveney

Argyll and Bute Young Ambassador, Niamh Mackaveney, describes the first Young Ambassadors Forum and Lugansky Plays The Emperor, Sat 23rd Nov at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

Saturday the 23rd of November saw the first meeting of the RSNO Young Ambassadors at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. It was so refreshing to meet other young people from all over Scotland who had similar interests and were clearly passionate about the subject at hand.
 
The idea behind the Young Ambassadors is to try to encourage young people to take an interest in classical music and make it accessible for everyone and in particular our peers. The level of enthusiasm that came from these talented people was overwhelming and made me feel as though we could really make a difference. After a photo-shoot in the main auditorium, which provided a good ice breaker, we were split into groups to discuss youth engagement, how we felt our generation viewed classical music, and how the RSNO specifically could make it more accessible.
 
At the concert, the RSNO opened with Messiaen's Offrandes Oubliees, a powerful piece which created an almost palpable tension throughout the audience. The string section was particularly spectacular in this piece as it added an unsettling and eerie feel. The impressive presence of Nikolai Lugansky then joined the Orchestra on stage. With an understated brilliance he showed us why he is a world class pianist with a beautiful rendition of Beethoven's Emperor. I sincerely look forward to my year as a Young Ambassador for the RSNO, and hope to attend as many of their brilliant concerts as possible.
 
Niamh Mackaveney
 
Niamh is part of the RSNO's Young Ambassador scheme, arranged by the Learning and Engagement Department. For more information, visit the RSNO website.

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Young Ambassadors Forum #1: Natalie Brayshaw

One of the Highland Region's Young Ambassadors, Natalie Brayshaw, describes the first Young Ambassadors Forum and Lugansky Plays The Emperor, Sat 23rd Nov at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall.

On November 23rd, I travelled to Glasgow to meet with some of the other newly appointed Young Ambassadors for the RSNO. Having never encountered any of these people before (aside from having a nosey on Facebook!) I had no idea what to expect and was pretty nervous to meet them. But after all the introductions had taken place, I was just excited for us to get started.

We started by having our photograph taken in the concert hall itself, while the RSNO rehearsed behind us. I was struck by how odd it was to see them in casual clothes, not in the smart performance outfits I was used to. After several hushed photos, we headed back to the meeting room to come up with our first ideas.

In our groups, we came up with ideas such as making classical music more relatable to young people - for example by using classical music that has been made well known by films. We also discussed making it more accessible, by trying to change the perception of classical music as something only for older generations.

After this, we were given the opportunity to attend ‘Lugansky plays the Emperor’ conducted by Peter Oundjian. The concert opened with the RSNO’s enthralling performance of Messiaen’s ‘Les Offrandes Oubliées’ (which translates as the Forgotten Offerings), before Nikolai Lugansky was welcomed to play Piano Concerto No.5 (The Emperor). The atmosphere in the hall was breathtaking, and it was amazing to enjoy such music surrounded by other young people who all shared the same love for it. The final piece was Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances, an interesting piece in which we heard prominent parts particularly from the brass. This was then followed by a wonderful encore of Brahms.

The music, meeting the other Young Ambassadors, and everything else about the evening was absolutely fantastic, and I can’t wait to meet the others and to continue working with this project.

Natalie Brayshaw

Natalie is part of the RSNO's Young Ambassador scheme, arranged by the Learning and Engagement Department. For more information, visit the RSNO website.

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Under 16? Get Free tickets for Under 16. Find out more here.

Work Experience with Learning and Engagement

The RSNO are dedicated to introducing young people to music beyond the realms of the concert hall. The Learning and Engagement department welcome work experience students to learn about how music is programmed within schools and local communities, as well as extended as a facility for learning new skills and providing a creative outlet.

Earlier this month, Guy Sutherland age 14 from Shawlands Academy joined the Learning and Engagement office for a four-day work experience placement. He shared his thoughts in the diary, below. Find out more about the Learning and Engagement department, here. 

Day 1: Monday 9 September

Over the past two days I have been at the RSNO for work experience. I have done many different things using many of my skills. I have been on the phone a lot, phoning registrars around the country and asking about the RSNO ASTAR CD, which was given to babies throughout Scotland in 2012. It was very enjoyable and gave me a great taste of what working within an Learning and Education department would be like. Later on, my supervisor and I went to a samba workshop at a different school which was very enjoyable. I met loads of different children doing the workshop and had a chance to learn more about the music and the way it is created.

Day 2: Tuesday 10 September

On my second day, I started out by making a survey on Survey Monkey about a workshop the members of the Orchestra had taken part in. It was successful, and has been sent round everyone in the Orchestra. Then I was given a spreadsheet that was to be checked and corrected for the holidays and in-service days around Scottish schools. After this, I was given the task of phoning different high schools in and around Inverness about a free coaching session on selected instruments at Eden Court. My first two days have been very successful!

Day 3: Wednesday 11 September

On my third day I started by listening to the Orchestra rehearse and then I rearranged all the RSNO’s concert guides since 1882 to 19-something which took quite a long time, but was satisfying when completed. After that I sorted out all the dates for the Scottish school holidays, in-service days and days they are in school which took very long also. But by the end of the third day I am very tired but I am enjoying myself at the RSNO.

Day 4: Thursday 12 September

On my fourth day, I finished phoning all the schools in Inverness to ask about free coaching sessions. It has greatly boosted my people skills and it has also increased my confidence massively. I helped the Library department by listing all the people who are going away at the weekend with the Junior Chorus. Then I stapled all of the music together which was fun. Tomorrow I go to Inverness which I am really looking forward to!  

Monster Music's Teddy Bears' Picnic

On 17 & 18 Apr 2013, Monster Music hosted a Teddy Bears' Picnic at Henry Wood Hall.  Families and children were invited to join presenter and actor Claire Knight, alongside a special 'guest appearance' from a giant bear (well, it was a Teddy Bears' Picnic), to sing and dance along in an informal setting, with live musical accompaniment of the RSNO. 

The concert proved to be a huge success, and received a 5* review in The Herald Scotland, which you can read here.

Henry Wood Hall

The Orchestra in action

Presenter, Claire Knight, and the RSNO's Burra bear, Yunson

See the rest of the photographs from the concerts on the RSNO Pinterest board, here.

Don't forget to keep up to date with everything that's going on in RSNO Engage section of the website, Liking us on Facebook and Following us on Twitter.

RSNO Engage has launched!

These are extremely exciting times for the RSNO, as the organisation continues to move from strength to strength.  We've had a more than successful 2012:13 Season,  with Peter Oundjian joining us for a second Season as Musical Director for 2013:14. 

On Thursday 6th June, the RSNO launched its new Learning and Education programme, RSNO Engage.  

The launch will lead to an overhaul of its schools concerts, a new programme to support young musicians starting their professional music careers, a nationwide RSNO Young Ambassadors initiative, a Highlands residency in 2014, development of a long-term relationship with young musicians in Perth and a pilot interactive music initiative for 0-2 year olds in Aberdeen. Share your thoughts on Twitter @RSNO #RSNOEngage. 

Read the full press release on the RSNO website here. 

View more photos on our dedicated 'RSNO Engage' Pinterest board here. 

The Story of Vadim's Violin

 
Picture the scene... It's 1878 and the 38-year old Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky is taking a break in Clarens, Switzerland. He is working on a Violin Concerto with his composition pupil Iosif Kotek. Four years previously in 1874, Tchaikovsky had witnessed a performance in Moscow by violinist Leopold Auer (who had championed Tchaikovsky's symphonic works when he was still a little-known composer) and went on to praise Leopold Auer's "great expressivity, the thoughtful finesse and poetry of the interpretation."
 
Leopold Auer played a 1689 Stradivarius violin; one of the best violins in the world. The sound created by this violin and this violinist must have stuck in Tchaikovsky's mind as he went on to dedicate his Sérénade mélancolique to him a year later.

It is perhaps then little surprise that when it came to dedicating his first (and only) violin concerto that Leopold Auer and his Stradivarius would again spring to Tchaikovsky's mind as his preferred soloist for its premiere, and also its dedication.

The date for the premiere was set for March 1879. However Auer refused and the concert had to be cancelled and a new soloist found.

Initially it was reported that Auer thought the work was "unplayable", but sources now suggest Auer thought that "some of the passages were suited to the character of the instrument, and that, however perfectly rendered, they would not sound as well as the composer had imagined."

Over two and a half years passed and the premiere of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto was eventually given by Adolf Brodsky in Vienna on 4 December 1881. A second edition was published and Tchaikovsky changed the dedication to Adolf Brodsky.

Fast forward 131 years, Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto is widely acknowledged to be among the most technically difficult works for violin. It has also become one of the best known and best loved of all violin concertos. And the "ex-Leopold Auer" Stradivarius has a new owner in Vadim Gluzman.

Over the next three nights Vadim Gluzman will join Music Director Peter Oundjian and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra on stage to perform Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto on the instrument that was intended to give its premiere. So when you come along to our concerts in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow this weekend and marvel at the music you're hearing Vadim Gluzman play, just think: you're listening to the very same instrument that Tchaikovsky wrote it for!