As special relationships go, that of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales with the Japanese conductor Tadaaki Otaka is particularly special, forged during the years when he was principal conductor from 1987 to 1995. He subsequently became their conductor laureate and, whenever he returns, his ability to inspire these players to give their utmost is evident both from the lustrous sound and their total commitment.
This concert’s all-English programme opened with Elizabeth Maconchy’s 1950 Nocturne for Orchestra, certainly not a gentle goodnight given its periodic sense of a disquieting turbulence, with insistent brass and occasional bite to the textures. The intimacy of Maconchy’s string writing is all of a piece with her many string quartets and Otaka’s blending of this with the different colours of the wind instruments was always evocative.
