Scottish Chamber Orchestra
Nicola Benedetti plays Beethoven
Usher Hall
Thursday 19th January
Miranda Heggie
Four Stars
With an all Beethoven programme, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra with soloist Nicola Benedetti gave a balanced and insightful performance of three of the composer’s works on Thursday evening. Opening with Leonore Overture No 1, one of no less than four possible overtures penned by the composer for his only opera, Fidelio, the orchestra displayed a mature, polished sound, if a little safe, under conductor Emeritus Joseph Swensen.
Moving on to Beethoven’s fourth symphony, a work often overshadowed by those symphonies on either side of it, the SCO’s sensitive portrayal of the music continued. Emerging with a sombre gravity, the dark, brooding string melodies of the opening adagio gave an air of intrigue to the piece. Carefully shaping this meaty symphony, Swensen deftly led the orchestra through Beethoven’s stark contrasts between pastoral lyricism and charged, fiery bursts of passion. The penultimate movement had a rocking, almost jaunty feel, before Swensen rounded off the symphony with a tight and punchy flourish.
The second half saw Benedetti give a stunning performance of Beethoven’s only violin concerto. This is an artist who exudes star quality; her exquisite playing, combining true virtuosity and a deep musical intelligence made this a memorable performance. Benedetti’s intimate understanding of the work is evident, with her compelling playing seemingly guiding the orchestra through Beethoven’s vivid musical landscape. Her dazzling cadenzas filled the hall, perhaps most notably in the first movement, before the orchestra behind her stealthily re-entered the scene with softly cushioned pizzicatos. The main theme of the final Rondo seemed to take on a different guise each time it was heard, as the orchestra constantly refreshed and reinvigorated the music.
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