In the 20 years that he has been associated with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, first as its principal conductor, and then, since 2009 as its principal guest, Ilan Volkov has arguably been more adventurous and introduced a wider range of contemporary music than any other conductor working regularly in the UK. His visits to the Proms consistently include something new or unfamiliar, and his latest appearance there was no exception, pairing Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony, the Pathétique, with a world premiere from the US-born, now Berlin-resident composer Catherine Lamb.
Strictly speaking it was a partial premiere: the first section of the three-part work dates back to 2013, the BBC commissioned the remaining two parts to complete the triptych. Lamb’s completed work, titled Portions Transparent/Opaque, lasts just over half an hour. The first section, subtitled skin/shimmer, begins with the strings alone, playing in “just” intonation – an ancient tuning system that subtly adjusts the distance between the notes – to create a quietly sustained, ever shifting continuum of sound constantly blurred by microtones. Lamb adds brass instruments in the second part (subtitled bone/saturate) to provide a more clearly defined harmonic core, and finally in the third part (nerve/cluster) introduces the woodwind, which bring in melodic ideas, more complexity and a sense of forward motion.
It’s an absorbing, immersive process, interrupted by unexpected silences, which often seem to be more about the details of the musical journey than its destination, radiant though the final chord is. It’s certainly a piece that demands fierce concentration from the orchestral players as they negotiate the score’s tuning subtleties, but the BBCSSO has long trusted Volkov to lead them safely through such challenges.
Lamb’s work must have demanded a great deal of careful rehearsal, but there was no sign in the performance of the Tchaikovsky that it had suffered as a result. Volkov is not a conductor to wear his heart on his sleeve, and though his performance was unfolded with great deliberation, it never became self-indulgent. It was easy to imagine a plusher, though probably soggier orchestral sound, in the finale especially, but there was no mistaking the fierce drama that propelled key moments such as the launch of the first movement development or the purposefulness with which the march led straight into the final Adagio, leaving no space for premature triumphalism.
• Available on BBC Sounds until 9 October. The Proms continue until 9 September.
