Reviews

Read all the latest press coverage below:

South of Scotland Tour

"[Weber's Clarinet Concertino] might be a short work, but it brims with virtuosity with soloist, SCO principal Maximiliano Martin revelling in the rippling arpeggios and shimmering trills." **** The Scotsman Read review

Levin plays Mozart

"Visceral insight and energy lit every inch of Schubert’s Symphony No 2, and with it a flamboyant end to a boisterous concert and the main SCO season." **** The Scotsman Read review

"...staggering in its revelatory qualities." ***** The Herald Read review

"...the orchestra set off at a cracking pace with a precise, crisp sound, emphasising how accomplished the musicians are in creating a symphonic sound." **** Edinburgh Guide Read review

"...[Levin's] improvisations and accompaniments seem to be creating the music fresh before our ears." MusicWeb International Read review

Beethoven Seven

"An impassioned, tour de force performance." **** Edinburgh Guide Read review

"It’s strange to think that Beethoven’s Symphony No7 is two centuries old – especially as it has never sounded so fresh or modern as in this thrilling performance by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra." **** The Scotsman Read revew

"Goerner, with poetic and technical mastery, in tandem with Krivine and the SCO at their best, produced an electrifyingly immediate account of the concerto..." ***** The Herald Read review

Britten 100: II

"The performance of the Britten was heart-stopping, unfailing in its perception of mood and atmosphere..." ***** The Herald Read revew

"...an elegantly sculpted performance..." **** The Guardian Read review

"...thrillingly executed..." **** Bachtrack.com Read review

"Having been left on a high by Suckling’s questing final peroration, we were kept there by a performance of Britten's Serenade for tenor, horn and strings that had something quite magical about it." **** Financial Times Read review

Chamber Concert

"...magnificently life-affirming, glowing with vivid colours and alive with crackling energy." **** The Scotsman Read review

Sinfonia Concertante

"...the SCO...with its former leader and frequent guest leader, violinist Alexander Janiczek, produced playing on Friday night, on all scales, that was a testament to the expertise, experience and international reputation of this orchestra..." **** The Herald Read review

"...visceral magic from the SCO, a self-generated electricity that feeds performances with a sense of immediacy, even an element of danger, as players engage actively with each other." **** The Scotsman Read review

Ticciati conducts Berlioz

"...Ticciati’s abundance of intensely focused energy played its every nuance..." **** The Scotsman Read review

"...Robin Ticciati's stylish, understated and economic direction, which eschews exaggerated expression, magnetically draws the ear to the music rather than its presentation." ***** The Herald Read review

"Soloist Antoine Tamestit produced cantabile lines of Italianate warmth and figures of wraithlike otherworldliness..." ***** The Independent Read review

Das Lied von der Erde

"[Karen Cargill's] entire performance was molten and radiant, feeding the final spent moments with a spellbound intensity." **** The Scotsman Read review

"...the players had a real swagger in their playing...and principal oboe Robin Williams in particular had a magnificent night." ***** The Herald Read review

"...some of the most thrilling Mahler playing I have heard in years." MusicWeb International Read review

"Toby Spence gave a superlative performance, his voice effortlessly rising above the music." **** Edinburgh Guide Read review

"Credit...goes to conductor Robin Ticciati for his perfect all-round interpretation." Dundee Courier Read review

"This was happy, boisterous music-making: the punchy opening chords glowed with blithe confidence; the fast movements sparkled with daring, dynamic energy; the sound of the orchestra was rounded and robust." **** The Guardian Read review

Goerne sings Schubert

"...a spine-tingling final Erlkönig, whose supernatural night-time chase [Matthias Goerne] conveyed in a terrifyingly intense performance, driven on by Ticciati’s surging accompaniment." **** The Scotsman Read review

"This was a truly thrilling performance by Goerne and the SCO." **** Bachtrack.com Read review

Nelson Mass

"...the sheer ebullience of [Ádám Fischer's] music-making shone through in every bar. The orchestra achieved a sound that was full-bodied and muscular while retaining a lightness that buoyed up each phrase..." MusicWeb International Read review

"...Fischer's subtle mastery really shone through." **** The Herald Read review

"...a truly gripping performance topped by four excellent vocal soloists." ***** Bachtrack.com Read review

Anderszewski plays Mozart

"It was a kind of collective daring, an all-or-nothing commitment and sense of shared responsibility that is rare to get from orchestras." ***** The Guardian Read review

"[Piotr Anderszewski] has to be one of the finest Mozart interpreters around with his ability to make subtle changes in tone and phrasing that are both profound and intoxicating." **** The Scotsman Read review

"The audience went ga-ga..." *** The Herald Read review

"Anderszewski’s playing was a marvel of musicality and life." MusicWeb International Read review

"...Anderszewski played it to perfection." **** Edinburgh Guide Read review

"The performance was elegant and rousing by turns with lovely flute and oboe contributions from Alison Mitchell and Robin Williams respectively." **** Bachtrack.com Read review

"...Janiczek's direction of the SCO strings lost nothing of the music's fiery intensity and drama and was a performance that was, to say the least, invigorating." Dundee Courier Read review

A Little Book of Monsters

"Singing from memory and with ringing clarity, [the Edinburgh Primary Schools' Choir] could have taught many of their adult counterparts a thing or two as they merrily sang their stories of man-eating changing cubicles and cannibal creatures." **** The Scotsman Read review

MacMillan Oboe Concerto

"The Scottish Chamber Orchestra was on especially impressive form, getting right to the heart of the music as scaled-back groups often can. The minute attention to detail throughout made this a particularly exciting evening." **** Bachtrack.com Read review

"Leleux's performance was mesmerising..." **** The Scotsman Read review

"The concerto shows MacMillan at his very best, shifting fluently between evocative soundscapes and shot through with moments of haunting beauty." **** The Guardian Read review

"...startling heights of electric performance..." ***** The Herald Read review

"James MacMillan's Oboe Concerto is the perfect vehicle for [François Leleux] and his dazzling performance was like one long cadenza, full of marvellous virtuosity." Dundee Courier Read review

"...a peerless performance..." Perthshire Advertiser Read review

Romantic Century

"Watkin's beautiful performance...exquisitely characterised the intimacy of the music of this most individual of Romantic composers." **** The Herald Read review

"Apart from the loveliness of the sound what struck me was the power in this relatively small ensemble - so much more than the sum of the parts." ***** Bachtrack.com Read review

"As well as showcasing a great conductor, this evening was more proof of the gold that the SCO holds within its own ranks." MusicWeb International Read review

"The star turn was SCO principal cellist David Watkin, soloist in Schumann's Cello Concerto." The Observer Read review

The Little C Major

"...a sparkling, wonderfully-coloured and characterised performance of Schubert's Sixth Symphony, one of those SCO performances where the musicians (and Egarr) just breathe new and ever-more stylish life into the music." *** The Herald Read review

"Egarr and the orchestra were clearly revelling in the thrill of sharing a new discovery..." MusicWeb International Read review

The Great C Major

"But really the night belonged to the astonishing Swiss-Italian pianist Francesco Piemontesi for his dazzling and amazingly fleet performance of Mendelssohn's First Piano Concerto, one of those rare performances that reveals the mastery and genius of a composition and asks why we hear the piece so infrequently." **** The Herald Read review

"[Francesco Piemontesi's] talents really came to the fore in the lyrical andante where he basked in the honeyed glow of the cello and viola accompaniment." **** The Scotsman Read review

New Year in Vienna

"...one of the best Viennese New Year concerts I have attended." Dundee Courier Read review

"Rösner conducted with authority and the SCO responded with sparkling and energetic playing." Perthshire Advertiser Read review

 

 

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German Romantics

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra deliver a dazzling evening of Spohr, Weber and Mendelssohn.
SCO: Martin Maximillano, German Romantics
SCO: Martin Maximillano, German Romantics
Image: Ken Dundas
Sarah Mitchell
Wednesday 11 November 2009, The Journal Issue 27

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*****

It seems to go without saying that a virtuosic concerto coupled with a dynamic conductor and two thoroughly Romantic symphonies will draw in the crowds with ease. This is why, with the new Scottish Chamber Orchestra season programme still fresh in our minds, a considerable Queen’s Hall audience await those opening chords with anticipation.

This evening’s opener is Louis Spohr’s second symphony, a work which doesn’t grace the concert hall with its presence all that often. Tonight’s performance is successful in, among other things, proving to us that lack of such repertoire as standard is a great shame. The piece itself brings to mind the works of many great composers, while also presenting the contrasts and deep harmonies of the very best Romantic music. From the beginning, the strings are fabulously unified , as well as a coherent whole, and the winds show outstanding balance consistently. British-born conductor Nicholas McGegan is animated and effortless; a joy to watch.

Following this, McGegan is joined on stage by another dynamic and engaging performer, SCO principle clarinet Max Martin. Weber’s second clarinet concerto is an ideal platform to showcase outstanding talent which Martin relishes without fail. It is surprisingly rare to see a performer who is as consistently engaging as Martin. A whole other connection with the music is apparent. His fantastic tone is present through all registers and all dynamics; his connection with the rest of the orchestra is effortless as the strings build up to solo entries and the wind colourfully interject throughout the melodic line.

The second half of the concert brings Mendelssohn’s first symphony. For a work written when the composer was just fifteen, it's beautifully reminiscent of Beethoven and perhaps could be answered by Beethoven's ninth symphony, written a year later. The symphony once again presents the talents of separate sections as string pizzicato is so amazingly united that one could mistake it for only two or three instruments. The wind once again give vibrant solo lines in parts and work remarkably well as a whole in other passages. McGegan’s energy never subsides, leaving an uplifted audience awaiting the rest of this promising season.