Festival Music
CBSO
Usher Hall, Edinburgh
Stephanie Humphreys
five stars
It is safe to say that Friday night’s concert was a success for the Edinburgh International Festival, with a cleverly put-together programme and a full audience.
The evening started with Stravinsky’s Funeral Song. Written in 1908, the score was lost for over a century, leading to an excited anticipation about hearing this rarely played piece. The orchestra certainly delivered, each instrument playing its part in saying goodbye to an old mentor and friend as Stravinsky intended. It was atmospheric from start to finish, with haunting melodies and the orchestra coming together impeccably to portray the grief within the music.
This was followed by Elgar’s famous Cello Concerto, the highlight of the evening, played by Sheku Kanneh-Mason. The performance was confident, assured and passionate. The slow, soulful movements contrasted with the light and virtuosic ones beautifully, with hints of nostalgia and reflection coming through. The performance was greeted by cheers, whistles and a huge round of applause, and Sheku even came back on to play a short, unaccompanied encore, further displaying his talent and passion.
The final piece of the evening was Daphnis and Chloé by Ravel. With breath-taking use of choir and full orchestra, to sweeping lyrical melodies, it could only be described as magical. The dynamic contrast and rapid changes in colour told the ballet’s story of nymphs, pirates and love perfectly. Despite brief moments where the orchestra weren’t quite together, this work provided a magical end to an outstanding concert.
Stephanie Humphreys is a pupil at Broughton High School and this review was submitted as part of The Herald Young Critics Project with the Edinburgh International Festival
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