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Colin Matthews@80: Oboe Concerto Defies Pastoral Tropes
9 Feb
Summary
- Colin Matthews's new oboe concerto premiered as he turned 80.
- The piece, for the LSO, is a continuous movement, not pastoral.
- Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances and Bartók's Dance Suite also featured.
Marking composer Colin Matthews's 80th birthday, a new oboe concerto, a collaboration with the London Symphony Orchestra and principal oboe Olivier Stankiewicz, has premiered. The single-movement work, unlike typical pastoral pieces, features an agile oboe locked in dynamic argument with the orchestra, navigating a texturally dense soundscape under conductor Elim Chan.
The concerto's challenging, unresolved ending underscores Matthews's uncompromising structural vision. This concert also included Rachmaninov's 1940 Symphonic Dances, a work that grapples with musical history and identity through its various allusions. Elim Chan's conducting emphasized the deep internal logic of the piece.
Completing the program was Bartók's Dance Suite. Chan maintained clarity in this performance, ensuring the glittering surface of the music, particularly in the woodwind solos, did not detract from the underlying architecture.
