Music review: RSNO & Han-Na Chang, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall

A distinctive cello theme ran through the first half of this RSNO programme. Most obviously, there were the rich choir of cellos that opens Rossini’s William Tell Overture, and the return visit by the Berlin Philharmonic’s lead cello, Bruno Delepelaire, to fill the solo spot in Elgar’s wistful Cello Concerto. In addition, South Korean-born guest conductor Han-Na Chang is also an award-winning cellist.

That Chang chose in her twenties to swap the bow for the baton was clearly conducting’s gain. The carefully manicured poeticism of her Rossini, not least in the overture’s tranquil awakening and the sun-filled charm of the later pastoral scene, persisted even in its racier moments. The storm scene, where the explosive timpani were encouraged to fire on all cylinders, was thoroughly pulverising, and the final familiar galop maintained a hard-driven feistiness, though forever countered by cleanliness and precision.

So what led to a relatively underwhelming Elgar concerto? It got off to an uncertain start, Delepelaire’s muted opening rhetoric met with slow deliberation by Chang, who seemed to labour excessively over the initial orchestral response. Even as a surer momentum manifested itself and Delepelaire adopted a more obvious spring in his step, his playing, albeit soothingly expressive, remained frustratingly reticent and distant. It just all seemed a little understated.

Redemption came in Beethoven’s Eroica and a performance that never missed a trick. Chang offered a very personal, expansive viewpoint, fiercely dynamic yet tempered by breathtaking patience and poise. Above all, she respected the symphony’s organic essence, whether in the conflicts of the first movement, the spiritual depths of the Funeral March, the nimbleness of the scherzo or the life-affirming exuberance of the finale. It was a performance that thrilled at every level.