There was a Scandanavian feel to tonight's concert by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, with both the Guest Conductor - Eivind Aadland - and the Soloist - Truis Mork - being Norwegian. A traditional chamber concert, the programme began with a Hadyn Symphony. A prolific composer, the orchestra played his Symphony No 102 [he wrote a total of 104] with great aplomb, their concentration being enhanced by Aadland waiting until the audience were quiet before resuming another movement. The appassionata passages in the second movement sounded particularly sweet with the orchestra creating a very pleasing unifying sound. Natural horns enhanced the authentic sound of this classical period emphasising the grandeur attached to the fourth movement.
The second piece on the programme was CPE Bach's Cello Concerto No 2 in B flat. The second of Johann Sebastian Bach's sons, he was one of the founders of the Classical musical style and this cello concerto had certainly some adventurous passages incorporated into it. Performed by Truis Mork, an accomplished cellist of international renown, he imbued the emotions incorporated into the concerto - some of which were dark, especially at the beginning of the second movement - with intensity and sweetness. And in the finale he effortlessly played the complex passages.
Beethoven was in Vienna at the same time as Hadyn and received some tuition from him and the programme concluded with Beethoven's Symphony No 1 in C major. The first movement frequently featured the talent of the woodwind players in the orchestra, and in the final movement, the Adagio, Beethoven's distinctive symphonic style was interpreted with great flurry by the conductor, Eivind Aadland.