Two days at the Edinburgh festival turned out to be a tale of two ladies, one Swedish, one Scottish.
One was a wonderful songstress approaching 40 years in the business, the other a younger but already established favourite whose rise to the top has been supersonic.
The first was soprano Anne Sophie von Otter and the second was violinist Nicola Benedetti.
Skill and talent
Both are experts in their own field, with the former showing the expertise and calm authority that comes with experience, and the latter showing that natural talent can match anything a more seasoned classical campaigner can offer.
However, it was never a contest as their different skills in different genres would make, in the surreal sense of a competition, a score draw.
Von Otter’s Queens Hall recital with pianist Christoph Berner was a cunningly- conceived fusion of chamber music and solo voice.
Whoever came up with a performance of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden string quartet interspersed with the composer’s Lieder should take a bow.
It was an inventive piece of programming, as each complimented the other perfectly.
Sultry, velvet tone
The youthful exuberance of the Quatuor van Kuijk – I’d like to them again and again – coupled with von Otter’s sometimes sultry and mostly velvet tone was downright brilliant.
The lieder was wistful in the main and matched the mood of the quartet, especially the pivotal second movement which is the heart of this exquisite piece of chamber music.
But adding to this mix songs by Rufus Wainright was a master stroke, lending von Otter’s voice a juicy almost jazzy essence.
A class act, no doubt, but when you think that class comes with experience – and it does with the Swedish songstress – class also comes naturally.
That certainly is the case with the Ayrshire phenomenon that is Nicola Benedetti.
How many times have I heard her and how many times have I said “she can’t get better, can she?”
But her performance of the Max Bruch G minor concerto in the Usher Hall with the SCO made me think and think again. This was Nicola at her brilliance best.
‘I’m clutching for superlatives’
What a way to herald her forthcoming role as Director of the Edinburgh Festival! If her organisational skills are on par with her skills as a performer, well I just can’t wait!
Everything about this performance was top-class, her lyrical side of equalled by the virtuosic side.
Her rapport with the SCO and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev was second to none, as captivating a collusion as one would wish for. I admit I’m clutching for superlatives as brilliant, mesmerising, astonishing aren’t really fulsome enough.
But how do you follow that? By providing a selection of music from Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty that was performed by the SCO a la Benedetti.
Cultured in the quiet passages and explosive in the full orchestra moments. The composer was a tunesmith par excellence and every note in the score was highlighted in what was a performance by orchestra and conductor that was awesome in every aspect.
Some will have left the concert humming one of Tchaikovsky’s many brilliant melodies – the famous waltz is a leading contender.
My abiding memory is a clutch of them but also of a marvellous concerto given an equally marvellous performance.
