The guest conductor at this Scottish Chamber Orchestra concert was the exuberant French-Canadian Yannick Nezet-Seguin who first made his debut with the orchestra in April 2007. Bringing out the best in the orchestra, his passionate energy quite mirrored the turbulent emotions which permeated the compositions chosen for the programme.
The performance began with Robert Schumann's 'Manfred' overture. Composed in 1848-49, it was first performed in 1852 with the composer at the helm. The overture forms part of Schumann's incidental music based on Lord Byron's poem of the troubled, tormented Faustian soul who wanders the Bernese Alps.
Like the character in Manfred, Schumann too was a tormented soul and empathised totally with Byron's "restless, wandering, distracted man, tormented by fearful thoughts". And this agony of emotions is all too prevalent in his powerful overture, which ends on a dark, foreboding note.
Next on the programme was Schumann's piano concerto in A minor, played by the American pianist Nicholas Angelich, who has performed on many occasions with the conductor Nezet-Seguin.
Composed as a showcase for Schumann's wife Clara, this concerto is one of the most beautiful piano concertos ever written and orchestra and conductor, coupled with Angelich's accomplished interpretation of the rolling chord structures and the appassionatta passages resulted in a memorable rendition of this work. For an encore, Angelich exquisitely played Traumerei (Dreaming) from Schumann's Scenes of Childhood.
The final piece, where the SCO quite excelled itself, was Mendelssohn's Symphony No 5 in D major entitled 'Reformation'. Performed as part of this year's bicentenary celebrations of Mendelssohn's birth the 'Reformation' Symphony is a powerful piece of music. Conducted in 1832 by the composer, the Symphony is based on (16th century) Martin Luther's setting of Psalm 46.
Majestic in places, with some frenetic passages, and resounding brass segments the concert concluded with a tour de force performance by Nezet-Seguin and the orchestra.