Classical review: Scottish Chamber Orchestra / Okko Kamu

Published on Sunday 21 March 2010 21:57

CITY HALLS, GLASGOW ****

AS A preface to the Mozart Concerto and Haydn Symphony that were to follow, Prokofiev's Symphony No 1 Classical turned out to be an odd sort of an introduction. Opening with the kind of precise melodies so synonymous with music of the "classical" period, it might have been tempting to assume that Prokofiev was seeking to pay tribute to past masters.

Yet conductor Okko Kamu soon shifted away from the restraint of the first movements, purposefully landing a fraction too heavily at the ends of phrases, hamming up the rubato just a little, and it became apparent this was to be more a humorous pastiche than an homage.

Somewhat surprisingly, this over-emphasis only served to underline the simple beauty of Mozart's Piano Concerto in B flat K595. Playing with fluidity and resonance not heard in the Prokofiev, the SCO heralded a change of style in the extended orchestral introduction. Soloist Steven Osborne took up the mantle, and with a frankness of interpretation seemed to revel in the uncluttered undulations of the single line melodies.

Haydn's Symphony No 92 Oxford threatened to be something of a let-down. Thankfully, a wonderfully subdued Adagio and quirky Menuetto more than compensated for the rather average opening movement.