The best-known work of the Norwegian composer Geirr Tveitt (1908-1981) falls into a category much practised in Ireland this century, the folk-song arrangement. Tveitt, who trained in Leipzig, Paris and Vienna, is celebrated for his 100 Folk Tunes from Hardanger for orchestra, some of which, unfortunately, were lost with other unpublished manuscripts in a fire in 1970. The selection offered by the Stavanger Symphony Orchestra on its Irish tour was preceded by the original melodies, sung in traditional style with plaintive voice and haunting intonation by Thale Valland. Tveitt sets out on a more adventurous course than any Irish composer of the mid-century, achieving results that feel both free and strict - free in the colouristic resource of the orchestral patterning, strict in the way the folk material is allowed to retain its natural character, like a gem calculated to remain the focus of attention in its elaborate setting. Conductor Vassily Sinaisky and his players gave high-impact performances that made the most of the music's individuality of character.
Shostakovich's First Cello Concerto, written nearly 40 years ago for Rostropovich, is a piece which, in concert, can all too easily sound like an unequal contest. On this occasion, Sinaisky chose a path of suitable restraint so that both the spry mobility and lustrous lyricism of soloist Truls Mrk could be enjoyed to the full.
In Dvorak's Eighth Symphony, Sinaisky proved clear of head, warm of heart and sure of vision. There was little of glamour in the orchestra's playing. The dynamic range was kept narrow, with hardly any true pianissimo, the weight of the brass was allowed to challenge the presence of the strings, and discipline in matters of ensemble was not always ideally tight. But the animation of spirit was infectious, the sense of the players' relish in the task at hand palpable, the music-making in this most outgoing of works both exciting and immediately communicative. And at the end of the evening, in the third and final encore, when the players returned from Grieg to Dvorak, they managed in their parting shot to give the fullest suggestion of the sensual allure of which they are capable.
