The Scottish Chamber Orchestra were in fine form last night, playing at their home base, the Queens Hall in Edinburgh. The programme was led by guest conductor, the renowned Diego Masson, who last worked with the SCO in the early 90s.
The evening began with a perky rendition of Rossinni’s popular, vibrant overture The Silken Ladder, from his one-act opera of the same name. Taken at a fast romp, and adroitly conducted by Masson, the piece highlighted the tight, high quality standard of musicianship in the orchestra.
Next came Mozart’s piano Concerto No 21 in C. Piotr Anderszewski, the Polish pianist was the soloist. Anderszewski is one of the most accomplished pianists in the world today. His talent is being able to elicit the most eloquent, beautiful sounds from the piano. He played this concerto effortlessly to perfection and in the slow middle movement, the string section exquisitely mirrored the sweet sounds emanating from the piano. At the end of the piece, Anderszewski received rapturous applause from the appreciative audience.
Moving on to the twentieth century, the Orchestra then played Stravinsky’s Concerto in D, a piece commissioned by the Swiss philanthropist Paul Sacher for his string orchestra in Basel in l928. Stravinsky’s music involves complex, contrapuntal rhythms, but under the expert guidance of Masson, who has conducted many contemporary pieces, the orchestra blended well together. And mixing modern with traditional classical music, the versatile SCO concluded with Haydn’s Symphony No 88.
Tour dates:
GLASGOW City Halls
Friday 23 November, 7.30pm
ROSSINI Overture: The Silken Ladder
MOZART Piano Concerto No 21 in C major, K467*
STRAVINSKY Concerto in D
HAYDN Symphony No 88