Bizet’s Carmen Suite – Usher Hall
Strings, percussion, and a little mountain magic, but no conductor, and sometimes I notice.
The NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra from Wrocław brings a conductor-free evening to the Usher Hall tonight, led from the violin by their artistic director Alexander Sitkovetsky. No figure in tails waving a baton tonight, just Sitkovetsky steering the ship from within. Apparently, that’s perfectly normal in the chamber-orchestra world, but for those of us used to the “point and wag” approach, it takes a moment to adjust.
The first half gives us Grażyna Bacewicz’s Concerto for String Orchestra, brisk, crisp, and with some feisty edges, followed by Strauss’s Metamorphosen, a more reflective and sombre piece that seems to hang in the air. Both benefit from the precision and democratic energy t...