Scottish Chamber Orchestra: Mozart and Beethoven - £6 - £25
Karel Deseure (conductor)
Robin Williams (oboe)
Maximiliano Martín (clarinet)
Cerys Ambrose-Evans (bassoon)
Lauren Reeve-Rawlings (horn)
Wagner: Siegfried Idyll
Mozart: Sinfonia Concertante, K297b
Beethoven: Symphony no. 2
Warmth, affection, sunny optimism — all come together in this joyful late-summer concert under the perceptive direction of exciting young Belgian conductor Karel Deseure.
The SCO is rightly renowned for its exceptional wind players, and four of them step out of the Orchestra as soloists in Mozart's jolly, jaunty Sinfonia Concertante for oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn — with singing melodies that show off those instruments' distinctive personalities.
Wagner drew on themes from his epic Ring cycle of operas in his intimate orchestral Siegfried Idyll, written to awaken his beloved wife on her birthday, while the playful Second Symphony shows Beethoven at his most life-affirming.