TCHAIKOVSKY VIOLIN CONCERTO - AT WEST ROAD
Oldies may remember the Monty Python sketch in which a Proms performance of a violin concerto was interrupted by the solo instrument breaking in half and the bombing of the Royal Albert Hall by the RAF. The piece in question was Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto. I thought of that skit when watching and listening to the Bulgarian violinist Aysen Ulucan performing this wonderful piece. Happily no bombs dropped on the West Road concert hall as the young soloist charged headlong into this dramatic Russian concerto.
Gliding on to the stage in her sparkling black dress, she stood calmly, fiddle aloft, as the Cambridge Graduate Orchestra played the intro. Eyes closed in deep contemplation, there was a moment of dramatic anticipation as her bowing arm approached the violin’s bridge. Then those striking, almost strident chords, harsh, sit up straight and pay attention chords – and Ulucan was into her formidable stride. She has a muscular attack and creates a deep, resonant and hall-filling tone. Her insistent, gorgeously rich sound also seemed to raise the orchestra’s game. They had been a little uncertain in the opening piece, Brahms’ melodramatic Tragic Overture.
Tchaikovsky’s first movement is long, multi-layered and complex. Ulucan breezed through it with power and precision. There were moments though when her technique was so strong that I feared that she would saw the violin in half. Her playing is thrilling and as in the second movement, sweet as a nut when needed. The first movement cadenza, long – almost a work in its own right – was jaw-droppingly meaty and the sprightly finale full of fun, cheeky stop-starts and super-fast fingering. Ulucan thoroughly deserved the cheering reception from a rapturous audience.
The work in the second half of the concert was Robert Schumann’s fourth symphony. This is a really engaging work – strong themes repeating in fascinating ways. The orchestra was not quite up to giving it their best shot but there were many moments of true drama. Maybe not enough to set alight the concert hall, but remembering Monty Python, maybe that was no bad thing.
