Classical review: SCO Soloists and Alasdair Beatson (piano), Cottiers, Glasgow

“THE true definition of a happy hour” was how Cottier Chamber Project artistic director Andy Saunders described his early-evening concert of quintets for wind and piano by Beethoven and Mozart.

And so it proved, with soloists from the Scottish Chamber Orchestra on sparkling yet sensitive form, and Scottish pianist Alasdair Beatson providing nimble support throughout.

Mozart’s Quintet in E flat K452 was the first ever work to use the ensemble of piano, oboe, clarinet, bassoon and horn, and according to SCO bassoonist Peter Whelan it’s the best piece written for that combination. The players made the most of its bold colours and gave an expansive reading of the blissful slow movement, dovetailing immaculately to finish each other’s phrases. Whelan had a beautifully singing tone, and horn player Alec Frank-Gemmill combined strength with sensitivity. The good natured glee of the closing Allegretto found Beatson contrasting spiky staccatos with sudden eruptions of cascading notes.

Whelan can’t have meant that the Beethoven Quintet in E flat op.16 was a lesser work – even though the composer had clearly been inspired by Mozart’s earlier piece. At times the performance here was slightly subdued, as though the wind players were afraid of drowning out the sometimes fragile tones of Beatson’s Pleyel instrument. Yet it was still full of energy: Robin Williams’s oboe was by turns plangent and sonorous, and clarinettist Maximiliano Martín showed a remarkable tonal range.

Rating: ****