Classical review: Scottish Ensemble, Edinburgh Queen’s Hall

WHO would have thought that Mendelssohn and Stravinsky could make such perfect foils for each other?

In typically innovative style, Jonathan Morton’s programming of these very different composers for the Scottish Ensemble’s latest tour exposes the pair anew.

It was the insistent driving rhythms of both that provided the most obvious link. First, Stravinsky’s Concerto in D, with its mix of excited, rising anticipation and ironic sweetness, was directed from the violin with consummate artistic poise by Morton. Less rewarding was his Concertino, even in Morton’s own skilful arrangement of it for string ensemble rather than string quartet. However, played with the group’s full-bodied immaculately together sound, its rhythmic energy was still considerable.

Mendelssohn’s Concerto for Piano, Violin and Strings was a bit too long to sustain interest – not that this was any fault of the performers’. Pianist Alasdair Beatson was mesmerising, his quiet effervescence well matched with Morton’s own understated style.

Written when Mendelssohn was just 14 years old, it was unsurprisingly youthful and upbeat in spirit, with the Ensemble adapting effortlessly to its joyful lightness of touch.

The Ensemble also performed two of Mendelssohn’s Four Pieces for String Quartet – the Capriccio and the Fugue. One of the highlights of the evening was the way the deliciously sonorous double bass underpinned the unwinding melodic lines in the latter.

Rating: ****