Classical review: Scottish Chamber Orchestra

Published on Sunday 14 February 2010 21:48

QUEEN'S HALL, EDINBURGH ****

WE'RE in for a lot of Chopin this year to mark the bicentenary of his birth, and with luck we'll also hear more from the talented Russian pianist Polina Leschenko who, together with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and conductor Joseph Swensen, gave such a sublime performance of the composer's Piano Concerto No 2 in F minor.

This was in fact the first piano concerto Chopin wrote, which he also premiered at the age of 19, making its complex maturity even more impressive.

From the opening bars, Leschenko immediately tuned into the composer's idiosyncratic and dreamlike pulse that defies conventional timekeeping.

She managed to bring a poetic quality to the music, particularly in the Larghetto, when everything seemed to move in slow motion as delicate flurries of notes appeared to hover in mid-air.

This was a mesmerising yet controlled performance by Leschenko, whose understated approach made the quicksilver finale, with its lively mixture of styles, even more thrilling.

Whenever the SCO are reunited with Swensen something magical always happens, and sparks were certainly flying in their sizzling performance of Mendelssohn's Symphony No 3 in A minor (Scottish). Although there is a Scottish lilt to the piece, particularly in the dotted rhythms, Mendelssohn injects the music with his own distinctive restless and turbulent energy.

However, Swensen's sensitive arrangement of Clara Schumann's piano piece Romance in A minor, Op 21 for woodwind horns and double bass made for a gloomy opening to what was otherwise an upbeat and dynamic concert.