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Scottish Chamber Orchestra, James MacMillan Tryst, September 2009: Let's put this in context. James MacMillan's Tryst, from 1989, was his breakthrough piece. The Confession of Isobel Gowdie, from the following year, usually collects that accolade, which is true in an international sense. But Tryst is the work where it all happened.
And in the SCO's rigorous analysis and performance of the work in its Masterworks series on Monday night in Edinburgh, the core of Tryst was laid bare in an astounding analysis of the work by Paul Rissmann, with the SCO conducted by James Lowe, demonstrating and exemplifying its elements.
Absolutely no stone was left unturned in this comprehensive deconstruction of the piece, which, structure by structure, cell by cell and motive by motive, took the music apart and revealed its core, explaining the function, purpose and links of every element of the piece, from its woodwind wails to its trumpet fanfares, its block chords, its pugnacious, acerbic rhythms, its reductive passages, its collisions and the stark juxtapositions and superimpositions, now familiar and quintessential elements in the MacMillan style book, but so startling 20 years ago.
Beginning with the William Soutar poem, and MacMillan's seminal setting of it; following it through the seedbed violin study After the Tryst (with a flavour of the piece from SCO leader Chris George) and through to the final work itself, outstandingly played by the SCO with big Jim Lowe in magisterial form, this was premier league music education and top drawer performance in indivisible alliance.
As for Paul Rissmann, I knew he was good - but this good? This was a tour de force of intellectual, musical and educational navigation. Masterworks indeed, in more ways than one. A nomination for an award from someone, please.
Michael Tumelty, The Herald, September 2009

FOR more than ten years the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and presenter Paul Rissmann have delivered Masterworks, a hugely successful "music under the microscope" education project, to secondary school pupils throughout Scotland.
In this pilot concert featuring James MacMillan's Tryst, they performed their double act for the general public for the first time, providing a fascinating insight into how one of the most significant masterpieces in the repertoire had been constructed.
Rissmann got the tone spot on in with his mixture of witty banter, superb visual graphics and even a bit of audience participation in the form of counting, stamping and clapping. He explained how James MacMillan's piece evolved from a simple folk melody, using the text of William Soutar's 1932 poem Tryst, via a haunting violin and piano duo into a fully-fledged 25-minute work for chamber orchestra. Dividing the piece into five sections, Rissmann broke down all the component parts which included a 12-tone melody, fanfares, sirens, stabbing chords and a wailing theme, all illustrated by clever colour-coded notes or appropriate icons.
Tryst is a challenging powerhouse of a piece, the sparky raw energy and the thwack of the double basses in particular, reminiscent of Igor Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. After an interval the SCO, conducted by James Lowe, gave a thrilling performance of the whole work.
Given Rissmann's inspired and engaging presentation, it was impossible not to hear the piece with completely different ears as well as marvel at MacMillan's consummate skill as a composer.
Susan Nickalls, The Scotsman, September 2009
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Orchestra of Welsh National Opera with Peter Donohoe, Fishguard Festival, July 2009: IT IS the lot of the players in opera orchestras to spend much of their lives in the confines of an orchestra pit, so when the members of the Orchestra of Welsh National Opera were given the chance to display their symphonic aspirations in the airy space of St Davids Cathedral, their enthusiasm was almost palpable.
This year is Mendelssohn's bicentenary, so it was fitting that the 40th Fishguard International Festival should open with one of his most popular works, the Hebrides Overture. From the word go it allowed the young conductor, James Lowe, to show his considerable mettle as he deftly navigated the orchestra through storm and cross-current to bring us securely into the serenity of Fingal's Cave.
The festival's president, celebrated pianist Peter Donahoe, then joined the orchestra for Rachmaninov's Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini. This was no routine performance of that ever-popular work. Donahoe's pianism was simply dazzling, as delicate in colour as it was dramatic in power, and he was supported by some superbly precise orchestral playing under Lowe's astute direction.
The second half of the concert was devoted to Schubert's Ninth Symphony in C major. Although Schubert died shortly after completing it, the symphony is still a young man's work, and at St Davids it received a fittingly ebullient performance at the hands of another young man who is clearly destined for stardom. Many conductors treat the work with so much reverential deference to its sobriquet 'great' that they adopt grandiose gestures and ponderous tempi, but there was nothing ponderous in Lowe's daring interpretation.
He demanded - and got - some stunning feats of virtuosity from the orchestra, and brought out the work's exuberance and dramatic force with impressive panache. From the opening horn theme to the measured tread of the slow movement and the daring brilliance of the scherzo we were held in thrall.
With this splendid concert the Fishguard Festival kicked off in fine style.
John Rushby-Smith, Western Mail, July 2009
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Edinburgh Contemporary Music Ensemble Edinburgh, March 2009: With James Lowe as its admirable conductor, the Edinburgh Contemporary Music Ensemble - in reality an orchestra of more than 40 players, with a wide range of instruments at its disposal - is going to be one of Scotland's musical assets. Sunday's concert, its third, offered an impressive sample of its wares, some written specially for the occasion and most with Nigel Osborne, Edinburgh University's distinguished proponent of expressionist modernism, as their mentor.
Six young composers, Greek and Italian as well as English and Scottish, were represented by works that had broken free of the more static aspects of contemporary music to concentrate on things more mobile. This was music that was going somewhere, and it drew a large, attentive young audience.
Vassilis Kitsos's elegiac Chamber Symphony offered four richly-unfolded movements of death and transfiguration. Martin Parker's Steinmetzarbeiten was denser in texture, a study in stonework inspired by a set of drawings viewed, intensifyingly, from a distance and in close-up. Suzanne Parry's Views Through Glass emerged as a cello rhapsody, eloquently played by Clea Friend, through whose tone the orchestra cut its way. Stuart Taylor's Essay for Strings brimmed with an almost Elgarian energy.
Jake Spence's Five Chorales, each coloured by a different instrument, were gentle tone paintings. Alfredo Caponnetto's Konzertstuck, played by Angelo Aliberti, was a potent, sardonic, finally explosive vehicle for lidless piano, its innards accessible to the big hammers wielded by the soloist. Each piece had something to say - a good omen, surely, for whatever comes next.
Conrad Wilson, The Herals, March 2009
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Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Nielsen Fourth Symphony, December 2006: Earlier this year, when word got out that the RSNO was going to introduce a new series of early-evening concerts, there were suggestions that it was probably going to be a lightweight venture: get the punters in on their way home from work or shopping, and give them a quick fix of something popular from the classical mainstream.
Any vestige of that notion must have been comprehensively dispelled last night in the second concert of the series which featured, respectively, music of the greatest profundity in Elgar's Cello Concerto and some of the most dangerously volatile and explosive music in the repertoire, in the form of Carl Nielsen's Fourth Symphony, the Inextinguishable, which also happens to be one of the most sensationally exciting symphonies in the book.
Admittedly, in the hands of James Lowe, the RSNO's associate conductor, Nielsen's symphony found a director who seems to have a flair for the ultra-dynamic, combative music that draws its impetus from conflict and tension: does anyone remember his pulverising version of Holst's Mars a good while ago?
Lowe is a deep-end conductor, which absolutely suited the Nielsen in this volcanic interpretation which erupted before the crowd (at around 800 strong). Lowe did not miss a moment in those pages of the symphony where the tensions mount and boil, and clash - especially in the outstandingly-played antiphonal timpani duels of the finale - though in between times the momentum was less certain.
Michael Tumelty, The Herald, December 2006
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Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Mozart by Candlelight, 2005: As RSNO associate conductor James Lowe said at Friday's performance at the Usher Hall, this was an evening of just about every well-known piece by Mozart. No small challenge then facing Lowe and the orchestra to make each fresh and distinctive. Playing with the sound of a regular chamber orchestra, rather than a full symphonic band with some of its members having a night off, and with five flickering candelabra set in a semi-circle behind them, Lowe and his musicians certainly showed Mozart in his best light, even if some of them were obscured by lack of illumination.
The Marriage of Figaro's overture was deliciously airy and fleet of foot, as if the strings were standing on tip-toe to play it. In contrast, all the dark shadows and disturbing foreboding of what lies ahead for Don Giovanni were ominously present in the overture to his opera. In this first "pops" concert of the season, the soloist in Mozart's Piano Concerto No 21 was the 22-year-old 2004 Scottish International Piano Competition winner, Tanya Gabrielian.
[Of the Symphony No 40] Here was multi-faceted Mozart, raw-edged, reflective, gritty and alive - and conclusive proof that the symphony's famous opening is wasted as a mobile phone ring tone.
Carol Main, The Scotsman, October 2005
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Royal Scottish National Orchestra, South Scotland Tour, 2004: It’s obviously going to take time to get to know, though his work, the RSNO's newly appointed associate conductor, James Lowe, though with a three concert mini-tour with his new orchestra now under way, and a raft of education concerts this week, it's not going to take long for the young conductor to start piling up experience.
First impressions, from the opening night of the tour in Stirling on Sunday, suggested a conductor who's definitely got something. His stage manner is relaxed and confident. He is not a showman, though quite big and assured in his gestures. He imbued Schubert's Unfinished Symphony with both breadth and pace, as well as some warm lyricism. Perhaps most impressive was the sensation - hard to define, though you know when it's not there - that Lowe has a feel for the line and structure of a piece. That was certainly the case in his account of the first movement of Dvorak's New World Symphony which was well shaped, and which concluded with no sense of time having past. He also transmits an awareness of the atmosphere and excitement of "action passages" in the music. It will undoubtedly be interesting to watch him develop through the repertoire, when the going gets tougher, and as he evolves his rehearsal skills, when much has to be achieved in a limited time.
An auspicious start, then, with the RSNO producing some compact, light-footed playing in accompaniment to principal trumpeter John Gracie's masterly and characterful performance of Haydn's Trumpet Concerto.
Michael Tumelty, The Herald, May 2004
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Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Tchaikovsky 5, Inverness 2005: He is too young to have ever seen the legendary Sir Alexander Gibson in action, but the Royal Scottish National Orchestra's associate conductor, James Lowe, brought the RSNO's late lamented maestro to mind when he made his first Inverness appearance with the orchestra in Tuesday's Tchaikovsky evening.
Lowe had a similar podium technique and draws the same energy, colour and spontaneity from the orchestra. Even the glossy hair brought "Gibbie" to mind.
It was a most impressive debut, even if there were reservations about the balance in the opening bars of the Waltz from "Swan Lake" and the second movement of the piano concerto and the exaggerated punctuation in the first movement of the Fifth Symphony. This is the composer at his most profligate with melody and rhythm - and how Lowe lavished adoration on the glorious tunes and stirring march tempos.
Principal horn player David McClenaghan introduced the second movement's great theme with perfect intonation and an even flow of sound and the cellos latched into it with equal warmth.
The dynamics of the finale were superbly controlled by the young conductor. Principal trumpet John Gracie provided a singing commentary as Lowe rallied his forces.The strings swirled thrillingly round the brass as they blazed out the theme before both forces united for the symphony's resoundingly powerful climax that drew cheers from the audience and smiles of satisfaction from the orchestra.
Jim Love, Inverness Courier, March 2005
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Kwa-Zulu Natal Philharmonic Orchestra, South Africa, February 2006: Russian Mastery A homely-looking grey-haired woman musician from Norway turned out to be a star turn at this KZN Philharmonic Orchestra concert in the Durban City Hall. The programme was devoted to music from Russia, the only unfamiliar item being Reinhold Gliére's Horn Concerto, first performed in 1952. And it was in this work that Frøydis Ree Wekre beguiled the audience with a virtuoso performance on the French horn, a notoriously difficult instrument.
Gliére's is difficult to play but it is easy on the ear. Gliére was not a modern composer in any sense except the chronological. His music is rooted firmly in the nineteenth century, and this work is one of the last of the romantic concertos, rather reminiscent of Tchaikovsky in its sweeping melodies and emotional cadences. Froydis handled the technical problems with aplomb, and both her performance and the music itself were very much to the taste of the audience. In response to generous applause the soloist gave an encore on an extraordinary instrument from her native Norway, a kind of alpenhorn about three metres long, the playing end some distance from the large funnel-shaped bell resting on the floor. From this the player produced a simple melody of deep timbre, with a profound final note that sounded as if it came from more than one instrument. Delightful.
All this was a great success, but I think that the main honours of the evening go to the orchestra itself for a blazing performance of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade. The conductor, 30-year-old James Lowe from England, has a most animated style on the podium and he drew some exceptional playing from the entire orchestra. Scheherazade is a wonderful composition. A friend in the audience told me it would be his choice for that famous single CD that one is allowed on the desert island. I wouldn't go a far as that, but certainly the colour and grandeur of this music have few parallels in the orchestral repertoire. Special compliments to concert master Hristo Kardjiev for his excellent playing of Scheherazade's theme, oft repeated on the solo violin, and to the brass players for their resonant contribution.
Michael Green, artSMart
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Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances open with an exotic flurry of activity, with the winds firmly center-stage. Extensive use of the tambourine adds a festive air. The KZNPO sounded crisp and fresh under the baton of young British conductor James Lowe. We heard lovely flute, clarinet and bassoon. Lowe's conducting was precise and the orchestra responded accordingly. The orchestra pack a powerful punch in the middle section, with excellent sounds from the brass, especially the trombones and tuba. The pace kept the excitement going throughout in a lovely performance. The strings produced a tight, mellow sound and the timpani added continuous bursts of excitement with their busy score. Lowe's conducting matched the exhuberant finale in a wonderful display of bravura.
Gliére's Horn Concerto is seldom heard and is notoriously difficult to play. Frøydis Ree Werke showed she is a true master of the instrument in a beautifully controlled performance. The work is romantic and melodious, and is accessible, and easy on the ear. Werke's tone was warm, and her notes were well placed, so that her sound was clear. Her breath control was excellent. Although written in the mid-20th century the sound is distinctly 19th century. Lowe had the orchestra in a strong supportive role which added greatly to the enjoyment of the performance. The cadenza at the end of the first movement showed Werke's well modulated breathing skills and exceptional control. In the second movement, the horn has a decidedly melancholy feel, to which the orchestra provides a lush romantic backdrop. In the introduction to the third movement the theme is established by the winds and we heard lovely bassoon solo. The theme is picked up by the soloist and then the orchestra further develops it. The music is agile and the demands on the soloist are considerable. Werke rose to the challenge and shed new light on the horn, and what a beautiful sound it can produce in the right hands. The music is joyous and light and Lowe captured the spirit perfectly. This was a fine performance of the highest standard, and a real treat for the audience.
The opening of Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade is a bold brass fanfare, especially the motif of the Sultan. Scheherazade is introduced by solo violin, and Hristo Kardjiev played lyrically. Rimsky-Korsakov paints a broad canvas of different themes in his masterpiece. Lowe had the orchestra in top form in his interpretation of the score. We heard lovely flutes, (and we bid a sad farewell to Maria Swart who heads for a teaching post in the Free State). The music is melodious, and swells and ebbs as it tells the story of the princess who mesmerized the Sultan with her story telling, night after night, thus saving her life, until he fell in love with her. We also heard lovely solo cello, and an expansive solo for oboe. The entire brass section shone, and did themselves proud. The harp, beautifully played by Linor Steinhausen added a mystical quality to the music. In the final part, the timing was tight and the percussion was used to good effect. Stalwarts of the percussion section, Bryan Clarke, Bernard Kisbey-Green and Dobri Paliev were constantly kept on their toes!
Lowe exercised very effective control over the orchestra, and his enthusiastic conducting translated into an intelligent and rewarding performance.
Stavros Anthias, Kwana Newspaper
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New Nottingham Sinfonietta: A young orchestra reconstitutes itself under a conductor who took up the baton only last year. A few encouraging words, you think , will be in order. Despite the presence of several remarkable musicians in key positions, nothing could have prepared a reviewer for the sheer power or depth of Saturday's playing. James Lowe conducted an outstanding performance of Beethoven's Eroica Symphony. It had the epic virtue of authentic classical passion.
Lowe started the concert five minutes early in his eagerness. The only other conductor I have known to do that is Nigel Osborne. Last-minute arrivals will have missed the first of Hindemith's intricate Five Pieces for String Orchestra. Hindemith sometimes comes across as a dry academic tunesmith. But these pieces were delivered with tremendous pep. Soloist Carla Rees supplied grace and individual colour in a well-integrated rendition of Mozart's only purpose-built flute concerto. Orchestral flutes don't often feature in this work - here they formed a rich part of the instrumental chorus.
Along with its change of name, the orchestra has adopted a far more professional attitude to concert giving. In a city that now tends to hear less masterworks for medium-sized forces than blockbusters, the New Nottingham Sinfonietta could play a vital role.
Peter Palmer, Nottingham Evening Post
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There was something special about this concert. Partly it was the musical expertise, partly it was youthful enthusiasm and partly the fact that most of the players have been performing together for years, ever since their days in the Nottingham Youth Orchestra. Now they come together for a couple of concerts a year under the baton of their conductor James Lowe to re-ignite their shared passion for music making.
The programme amply fulfilled the promise of the opening bars. The oboe solo at the beginning of Borodin's Third Symphony was beautifully played and ushered in orchestral playing of great poignancy. Solo playing, especially from the woodwind, was of a very high order and there was an impressive weight of sound when required. Throughout there was clear, crisp articulation and much energy. Bethan Jones was the soloist in the Mozart Clarinet Concerto. Her tone was rich and warm, nowhere more so than in the adagio which was beautifully judged in tempo - a song with a seamless line.
Sibelius’ Second Symphony formed an impressive conclusion to the concert. This was a vital urgent performance, full of insights into the score and created a wonderfully dark atmosphere out of which sweeping strings conjured up images of vast northern landscapes. The transition in the finale was magnificently handled and all this was warmly appreciated by the small audience. Future concerts deserve to be a sell out.
Peter Palmer, Nottingham Evening Post
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For a young smallish orchestra to programme Brahms's Second Symphony is either brave or foolhardy. Fired by the example of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra conductor James Lowe and his players obviously knew what they were doing on Saturday. Though written during a summer holiday by an Austrian lakeside, the music isn't altogether sunny. With its rich cello melody the second movement made a particularly shuttered impression.
If the musicians arrived with cold fingers and instruments, they gave little sign of it in the overture and scherzo that Mendelssohn composed for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Complemented by atmospheric winds, the strings suggested the desired romantic delicacy. The summer-like feeling was kept up in a concertino concocted by Gordon Jacob from two baroque fiddle sonatas by Tartini. Matthew Billing, the orchestra's principal clarinetist was a splendidly lyrical soloist.
Under its previous name this orchestra used to go in for respectable run-thoughs. But James Lowe has given the playing an extra dimension.
Peter Palmer, Nottingham Evening Post