RSNO look to the Steppes

THE Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) bring a touch of Russian winter to the Capital on Friday, appropriate as Moscow and Edinburgh lie on roughly the same latitude.

Bringing a programme of magical festive fayre to the Usher Hall the evening will consist of The Snow Maiden and The Nutcracker.

Everyone loves Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, and on Friday evening the RSNO will whirl the audience through the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Waltz of the Flowers as well as every other iconic moment from Act Two of The Nutcracker.

Before that, however, there will be a chance to visit the glittering world of Rimsky-Korsakov’s lovesick Snow Maiden and enjoy Rachmaninov’s most romantic piano concerto, played by Olga Scheps.

“To me, music is an extension of my possibilities of expression, the extension of my language,” explains Scheps. “The notes are given, but I am the interpreter. That is like acting. Like the work of an actress, following a script.”

The concert will fall under the baton of Denmark’s Christian Kluxen, who began his musical training at the age of seven, first conducting at just 15.

Russian Winter: The Snow Maiden and The Nutcracker, Usher Hall, Lothian Road, Friday, 7.30pm, £11-£34, 0131-228 1155

LIAM RUDDEN