Baroque Inspirations 2026
Queen’s Hall, 19/2/26
Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Maxim Emelyanychev conductor
Scottish Chamber Orchestra conductor Maxim Emelyanychev says that Baroque Inspirations is his favourite concert of the year and it’s also one of the most popular with audiences here and in Glasgow (see the accompanying photograph from City Halls). The programme tells us “Tonight’s concert will be performed on gut strings with modern brass and timpani”. The SCO’s strings, under leader Stephanie Gonley have a secure record on gut-stringed instruments, and we can be sure we’re in for a treat, while modern horns will prove an intriguing alternative to the SCO’s preferred period horns
Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No 3 is one of the best-known but most sparsely orchestrated of the set. Three violins, three violas and three cellos join Jamie Kenny’s bass and Maxim Emelyanychev’s harpsichord providing continuo plus. The conductor often adds improvised and prepared material to his keyboard part: here Bach’s minimal score (two chords) for the brief central andante is turned into a lovely trio for the harpsichord with Max Mandel on viola and Stephanie Gonley on violin. The standing ensemble, which includes guest violinist, baroque specialist, Tijmen Huisingh, deliver a vibrant account of the exciting outer movements in this exceptional performance of Bach’s masterpiece.
The 20-year-old Britten gave the movements of his 1934 ‘Simple Symphony’ jocular baroque dance titles: ‘Boisterous Bourée’, ‘Playful Pizzicato’, ‘Sentimental Sarabande’ and ‘Frolicsome Finale’. Maxim Emelyanychev’s interpretation with a gut-stringed orchestra takes the work literally, capturing the spirit of antique dances and the young man’s humour. ‘Playful Pizzicato’ begins with light-as-air frivolity, fingers barely seeming to touch the strings, and then the middle section, which sounds like ‘Barwick Green’ the Archers’ theme tune, has a deliberate, plodding feel (think Joe Grundy rather than Shula Archer). Exaggerated pauses and a false ending add to the fun. In contrast the Sarabande is given a sumptuous performance by these warm-toned strings. A delightful reappraisal of Britten’s work.
Handel’s Water Music Suite No 1 in F Major (1717) has had many interpretations. (The Irish Baroque Orchestra’s memorable 2024 Festival performance in the Queen’s Hall featured outstanding horn playing on authentic instruments with a small string and wind ensemble). Period horns would normally be the SCO’s instrument of choice, but tonight the conductor breaks with tradition, and Kenneth Henderson and Gavin Edwards play their gleaming modern horns. Their sounds balance nicely with the gut-stringed orchestra, and in their allegros and the minuet deliver a performance fit for a king , or better - a knowledgeable Queen’s Hall audience. Handel, I believe, chose the horns for the original journey along the Thames as they resonate well over the water. I think these pass the test. The other wind instrument in this suite is the oboe, and guest principal Kyeong Ham enhances the work’s quieter sections with his lyrical playing. With the strings again on top form and Maxim Emelyanychev providing keyboard support, this version of the Water Music ends in well-deserved cheers.
A 25 minute interval allows many of us to gather in the bar for the now traditional celebration of medieval street music by Maxim Emelyanchev and his merry band of whistlers, pipers, drummers and singers.
The world première performance of Jay Capperauld’s ‘Stylus Scarlatti’ is a tribute to baroque composers’ practice of recycling their own and other people’s works to suit the musicians they had available. So for this orchestra, now enlarged further with a woodwind section, the SCO’s Composer in Residence has decided to rewrite four of Scarlatti’s keyboard sonatas, assigning the melodies, harmonies, virtuosic runs, and elaborate ornamentation to different instruments. While the strings provide a firm foundation of baroque authenticity, the modern woodwinds provide a twenty-first century contrast. The second sonata, which I heard online in Martha Argerich’s breathtaking display of keyboard agility, uses the woodwinds, especially the flutes’ strident top notes to recapture the ornate grace-notes of the original. The third sonata is a slow aria, giving opportunities for interesting harmonies while the sprightly syncopated fourth sonata dances along nicely. Jay Capperauld has again written a work which deserves further performances. The woodwind players take a special bow at the end.
The last work, and the evening’s longest, is Russian composer Schnittke’s 1980 ‘Gogol Suite’. Written as incidental music for an eccentric revue, Schnittke’s own wildly unpredictable score was turned into a suite by conductor Gennady Rozhdestvensky. The orchestra is now 50 strong and spills out to accommodate three keyboards on the left and five percussionists with myriad instruments on the right. Hidden among the strings are a bass guitar and an electric guitar. Maxim Emelyanychev also plays a piano – and has a microphone for possibly his first acting appearance.
The seven movements have titles and tell stories, which you can read with David Kettle’s excellent commentary in tonight’s programme notes. But it’s a work which compels attention and entertains even when not fully understood. Inspirations from the baroque era and elsewhere abound. A raucous appraisal of Beethoven’s Fifth is followed by a gentler appreciation of Haydn, and then a sourly dissonant waltz reminds us of Schnittke’s debt to Shostakovich, especially the Jazz Suites and the satirical musical ‘Cheryomushki’ – dance rhythms with unsettling instrumentation. Trumpets, bassoon – sometimes muted - and tuba (Craig Anderson), add to the fun – including a little tuba duet with violinist Stephanie Gonley. Maxim Emelyanychev intones (with a twinkle in his eye) the mock-heroic fable of the fish. There are sections of chaotic noise, with interventions from the prepared piano and percussion of all varieties including the spooky flexatone - but also at times a sense of hard-won peace breaks through. The work ends with the ringing of gradually quietening gongs.
Only an orchestra at the peak of its powers could play this so well. There’s enthusiastic and prolonged applause. What a concert!
photo credit: Christopher Bowen
