This was programming from Robin Ticciati and the SCO, Berlioz alongside Mendelssohn juxtaposing two very different approaches to romanticism and with the fire and drama of Beethoven prefaced by the cool clarity of Bach.
Berlioz's King Lear overture is a strange, unsettling work. Mendlessohn's First Piano Concerto is a different proposition entirely, dramatic but - unlike Berlioz - never self-consciously so. Stephen Hough was the soloist, flying through the sparkling passagework of the outer movements with ease. The chorale-like passage was particularly effective; Hough's delicate timbre supported by the hushed tone of the lower SCO strings.
However, George Benjamin's arrangements of Bach - two movements from the Art of Fugue - belonged to a different sound world.
With the opening chords of Eroica the programme came together with Beethoven as the culmination of the tradition that originated with Bach and as the stepping-off point for romanticism. Ticciati's vision of the symphony aspired to greatness: this was not a pared-down historical performance with driven tempi, but something altogether more majestic.
Yet, with grandeur tempered by the timbre of the natural brass and the lithe, clean sound of the SCO strings, the performance never felt weighed down. Ticciati's assured shaping of the work combined by the warmth of the SCO sound for a most effective, individual performance.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article