The Netherlands has been good to British violist Timothy Ridout. After a week packed with TV appearances, and a trip down those famous Concertgebouw stairs with Sir Mark Elder and the Netherlands Philharmonic for Berlioz’s Harold in Italy, attention turned to Phil Zuid. Performing a work written especially for him, Ridout gave the Dutch premiere of Mark Simpson’s Viola Concerto ‘Hold Your Heart in Your Teeth’- a Romanian idiom, loosely translating as ‘to face your fears’, or ‘bite the bullet’. Hearty advice for many in today’s uncertain world.
This is not Phil Zuid’s first Dutch premiere from a British composer. March 2024 saw Ben Goldscheider give the European premiere of Gavin Higgins’ equally enthralling Horn Concerto. Chief conductor Duncan Ward is quietly gaining a reputation for programming music which brings in the crowds. His commitment to pairing audience-pleasing classics with daring and innovative commissions should not go unnoticed. Tonight’s co-commission, paired with Rachmaninov and Richard Strauss’ cinematic blockbuster Also sprach Zarathustra, did just that. On a balmy February evening, Maastricht’s Vrijthof Theater was full.
The programme
The darkness
Ward immediately embraced the night in Rachmaninov’s Isle of the Dead, evoking a sea of uncertainty for the searing horn to rest upon. The path though, was deliberately uncertain. Wonderful tension in Ward’s arms gradually coaxed the brass towards their first warm embrace. Dark and intense, the sea swirled endlessly, the flute shrilled and double basses churned before the harps offered glimmers of light ushering in a new and more glorious dawn. With violins in the heights answered by ever more insistent horns, Ward’s storytelling was tantalizingly raw.
Timothy Ridout plays Mark Simpson’s Viola Concerto
If Rachmaninov’s darkness felt overwhelming, Simpson’s Viola Concerto went further, plunging the depths and challenging not just the mind, but demanding immense physicality from all involved. After the opening orchestral riotous din, Timothy Ridout’s viola languished low on the C string. Its very Eastern European modality, answered by a terrifying tuba.
Extremes of dynamics, microtones, a wealth of extended timbres, syncopated rhythms, and cascading scales were enveloped by moments of luscious lyricism. All effortlessly executed by Ridout at his most incisive and expressive.
A rustig cello paved the way for trombones to stumble their way through the night air, seemingly guided by the viola’s undulations shining brightly in the moonlit sky. Returning again to the opening theme, Ridout’s cadenza aroused a storm of pain and suffering. His climax, high up the fingerboard and accompanied by deafening, trembling marimba, presented a terrifying path to a different tomorrow.
It is truly amazing to think that this work began life just over a year ago in Berlin’s Philharmonie with Ridout joining the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester under Robin Ticciati. Already, one can imagine it sitting proudly in many concert halls. Without a doubt, one of the most engaging new commissions I have heard.
© Clare Varney
Strauss’ cinematic blockbuster
Following the high-octane first half, Ward’s cinematic opening to Richard Strauss’ Also sprach Zarathustra, full of lush romanticism in the hands of Phil Zuid’s strings, invited a much happier dawn. But the Gods had other plans. Life is never that simple, and in Nietzsche’s world, there is always an ordeal to be endured and a wall of brass for the solo violin to break through. How though, to find the light when distant double basses blocked the path. Their dissonant, searching tones sowing doubt where ‘er they tread.
Luckily, an optimistic clarinet, a hopeful cello and heavenly harps were on hand before an earth-shattering climax changed the tone. A daring bugle sounded as a dawn chorus woke even the weariest soul. The bells chimed and the horns brayed for a new day had dawned. Strauss’ hero would live to fight again, even if the double basses parting shot left questions unanswered.
Ward’s carefully crafted narrative totally convinced on this balmy February evening. What new commission will he offer next?
This concert was reviewed in Maastricht’s Vrijthof Theater on Thursday 26th February, 2026
A little history
© Clare Varney
Read more from Clare about other recent commissions from British composers
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