Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5

Ryan Wigglesworth's all-Russian programme is framed as a storybook. First comes Lyadov's witch in her hen-legged hut and enchanted lake, followed Mussorgsky's Death riding a general's horse, and finally Tchaikovsky's heroic Fifth.

Lyadov transports to that world immediately with low cello lines hurrying us out of the Usher Hall and into the woods. In The Enchanted Lake, airy strings open us into a clearing, as timpani brings foreboding, and the harp's soft, selective notes find a moment of peace. For its brevity, this is piece of depths, eager to usher us into them. Then Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death takes the programme towards the macabre, but this is harder to enter. Soloist Sophie Bevan grows more impassioned through songs that alternate between rhythmic, frantic exchanges with the strings and slower, haunting passages; at times she embodies Death, at others muses on it. Though her voice does not always sit comfortably against the brashness of the horn section. And without a digital programme, supertitles or even an introduction, and with paper notes not freely distributed, the Russian folklore remains unfortunately out of reach. So, the songs do not quite sustain their intended depth unaided.

Tchaikovsky's Fifth lifts the programme from folklore to military pageantry. The first movement takes time to gather, the horns becoming prominent in its rhythmic drive as Wigglesworth opens out the dynamics; its winding lines remain quizzical and floral. The second movement moves from subdued string chords into its horn melody, passed between woodwind, cellos and violins until the whole orchestra joins in force. The refrain takes on something of a dance, perhaps foreshadowing the third movement's waltz proper, which gathers gradually to a crescendo. Wigglesworth's generous pauses coax the refrain out. The finale returns to the royal heroic, with velvet strings giving way to fanfare; Trombones supplying the weight while the violins do the unrelenting legwork. The fourth movement allows Wigglesworth to leave space between the string timbres as the fanfare gathers. The military rally fills every corner, and by the end, we parade in the glory itself, almost in flight. Tchaikovsky brings out something as exhilarating as ever, but perhaps not quite the knight-in-shining-armour ending the storybook might have led us to expect.

Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.5 by BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Credit Edinterval.