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Festival Music: Filarmonica della Scala, Usher Hall

AN odd selection of pieces constituted the first of Filarmonica della Scala’s Festival concerts. Enescu’s two Romanian Rhapsodies may be his most well-known works, but they performed the less popular and more introspective second one. Moreover, Bartók’s Viola Concerto was left unfinished at the composer’s death and we can only hear it now in its reconstructed form.

Read the full review on The…

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#edinburgh international festival #eif #filarmonica della scala

Festival Music review: Joshua Bell, Steven Isserlis and Dénes Várjon, Queen’s Hall

EXPECTATIONS were high for the coming together of three top performers – violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Steven Isserlis and pianist Dénes Várjon – and they certainly did not disappoint. Isserlis’s treatment of Schumann’s wistful melodies in his Three Romances was spot on. He took the first at restrained pace, striking a more reflective than overly emotional tone. Such an approach may have meant…

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#denes varjon #edinburgh international festival #eif #joshua bell #queens hall #steven isserlis

Festival Music review: Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Usher Hall

IT IS not at all surprising that an American symphony orchestra would show an affinity with Bernstein and Copland – two of its country’s great 20th-century composers. With an extensive brass and percussion section, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra relished the brash loudness that these composers ask for, but that is not to suggest their performance was crudely one-dimensional. Bernstein’s…

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#bernstein #brahms #cincinnati symphony orchestra #copland #edinburgh international festival #eif #lincoln portrait #on the waterfront #usher hall

Festival Music review: Chiaroscuro Quartet, Queens Hall

WITH a first half consisting of two pre-Romantic composers, one might have expected that the expressive range of the Chiaroscuro Quartet would be limited. J.S. Bach’s instrumental music can seem drily academic, while Haydn may prioritise refinement over subjective feelings. But such emotional emptiness was entirely missing in the Chiaroscuro’s performance, which never fell short of riveting.

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#bach #chiaroscuro quartet #death and the maiden #edinburgh #edinburgh international festival #eif #haydn #schubert #the art of fugue

Festival Music review: Richard Egarr, St. Cecilia’s Hall

RICHARD Egarr must be one the best advocates for early music. For while his recital of 16th-century English keyboard music may not sound all that approachable, his affable manner and enthusiasm did much to disprove such expectations. Egarr did not assume that his audience would be well-versed in the music of William Byrd, John Blow and Henry Purcell. He also eagerly explained the ins and outs of…

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#byrd #henry purcell #john blow #ricahrd egarr #st ceclias

Festival Music review: François Leleux and Eric Le Sage, Queens Hall, Edinburgh

WHO would have thought that a recital of music for oboe and piano could have elicited such a variety of moods? Already with the opening piece, Saint-Saëns’ Oboe Sonata Op. 166, we were treated to the many sides of oboist François Leleux’s playing. He immediately captured the sweetness of the first movement’s pastoral and then the birdlike melody in the second. Quirky cheerfulness followed in the…

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#Camille Saint-Saëns #eric le sage #francois leleaux #oboe #poulenc #queens hall #schumann

Fringe Music review: Beethoven for Breakfast, Royal Over-Seas League

COMPOSED over a century apart, Beethoven’s highly classical Piano Trio in E-flat and Ravel’s stylishly French A minor Piano Trio prove how diverse this genre can be. But this was not the only reason behind the two-sided performance given by the Aurelian Trio as part of the Royal Over-Seas League’s series of Edinburgh Fringe recitals, as it quickly became clear that these young musicians were far…

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#aurelian trio #beethoven #beethoven for breakfast #ravel #royal over-seas league

Fringe Music Review: Keyboards at St. Cecilia’s

WHO would have thought that tucked amongst the pubs and clubs of Cowgate lies the oldest purpose-build concert hall in Scotland? Having recently re-opened, and with an”official” Festival season underway, St Cecilia’s Hall began a series of Fringe concerts with not one but two harpsichordists in an intriguing if quirky recital of harpsichord duos.

Read the full review on The Herald.

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#david gerard #edinburgh #edinburgh fringe #harpsichords #john kitchen #st ceclias

Fringe Music review: Mozart at Teatime, Royal Overseas League

OVER 30 classical music recitals are taking place at the Royal Over-Seas League’s clubhouse for the next two weeks. They may seem a world away from the Fringe’s raucous comedy shows, but it would be a shame to miss this more refined aspect of the festival. The third concert in the series was a rare treat: an opportunity to hear opera arias by Mozart and Rossini in a far more intimate setting than…

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#edinburgh #Fringe #helen sherman #Mozart #nicholas mogg #royal overseas league

Edinburgh Festival: Opening Concert, Usher Hall, Edinburgh

THE decision to open the Edinburgh International Festival’s first concert in 1947 with a Haydn symphony seems rather unambitious. Haydn’s symphonies only require a chamber orchestra – tiny in comparison to the mighty forces required by the likes of Mahler, Bruckner and Wagner. But if 2017’s opening concert, which reprised Haydn’s Symphony No. 94 in G, the “Surprise”, from the 1947 programme, is…

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#edinburgh international festival #haydn #lobgesang #mendelssohn #scottish chamber orchestra

St Magnus Festival review

THE NORWEGIAN Radio Orchestra is not a frequent visitor to the UK, but after their final performance at the St Magnus International Festival, listeners will be hoping they become so. Opening with excerpts from Peer Gynt by their compatriot Grieg was always going to be a winner. Yet their conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya also ensured this well-known piece was magnificent rather than corny, especially…

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#duo van vliet #joseph shiner #miguel harth-bedoya #norwegian radio orchestra #st magnus festival #Steven Osborne

St Magnus Festival review: I, Pilgrim; The Story of Magnus Erlendsson

A PREMIER by composer, Alasdair Nicholson was a fitting opening to the St Magnus International Festival, which prides itself on its emphasis on contemporary music. Nicholson, who is also the festival’s artistic director, tells the story of a man and woman leaving their dangerous homes in search of sanctuary in a dramatic oratorio, treating the politically resonant topic of migration.

Read the…

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#alasdair nicholson #gemma mcgregor #i pilgrim #ron ferguson #st magnus #st magnus festival #the story of magnus erlendsson

On the Stradivarius Myth

In 2011, the Stradivarius violin known as the “Lady Blunt” sold for $15.9 million—four times the amount for any previous Stradivarius. The hefty price tag for these instruments is commensurate with their reputation. The Scottish violinist Nicola Benedetti, who plays the 1717 “Gariel” Strad, has spoken of its “addictive quality,” while Anne-Sophie Mutter, who plays the 1710 “Lord Dunn-Raven,” has…

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#isserlis #stradivarius #van

SCO, Queens Hall, Edinburgh COMPOSER Lyell Cresswell must be thrilled. The applause after the premier of his new Clarinet Concerto, …

Snow and Granite: An Interview with Steven Osborne

As part of the preparations for this year’s St. Magnus Festival, I interviewed the Scottish-born pianist Steven Osborne. His connection to the place is deep: he loves its “few trees” and “barrenness,” he told me. Recently, we met up in his Edinburgh home to discuss performance anxiety, his own unlovely piano, and the struggle of making Chopin sound organic.

Read the full interview on Van.

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BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, City Halls, Glasgow

None of the pieces performed for the final concert in the BBCSSO’s ‘Hear and Now’ series were particularly long, but they certainly made up for it in intensity. The orchestra immediately dived into the high drama and tension of Ligeti’s ‘San Francisco Polyphony’, while their conductor Matthias Pintscher skilfully navigated between the work’s glimpses of melody and jabs of dissonance. The BBCSSCO…

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Vienna Tonkunstler Orchestra, Usher Hall, Edinburgh

It did not take long for the Vienna Tonkünstler Orchestra to transport their audience to the wild and windy Hebridean isle of Staffa during Sunday afternoon’s concert. Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture (Fingal’s Cave) may open softly, but the Tonkünslter’s strings brimmed with underlying energy and mystery. Yet the highlight of the performance was the wistful clarinet solo from Chrisoph Moser, who…

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#brahms #clarinet #edinburgh #emma johnson #mendelssohn #Mozart #usher hall #vienna tonkunslter

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