The SCO, BBC SSO, and RSNO: what to expect from their new seasons
We look at forthcoming attractions from Scotland's three largest orchestras
Scotland has many orchestras but three big ones in the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. And while some may question whether Scotland needs so many orchestras in this era of austerity-driven arts cuts, looking at their 2015-16 seasons, who'd want to lose them? In the world of Scotland's orchestras, the coming year is far from business as usual.
The BBC SSO
The orchestra is celebrating its 80th birthday and saying farewell to eminent Chief Conductor Donald Runnicles, who's programmed a bill of bracing Teutonic classicism. Highlights include Mahler's First and Tenth symphonies, the latter as restored by Deryck Cooke; Sibelius' last three symphonies on one bill, for a triple-shot of Arctic moodiness; Beethoven's staggering Missa Solemnis; the young American cellist Alisa Weilerstein playing Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No 2, and a musical tribute to Hitchcock. The work of seldom-heard Korean composer Unsuk Chin is also nicely seeded throughout the year. Runnicles will be replaced by Sweden's Thomas Dausgaard, who as a fan of contemporary Scandinavian music, can be expected to bring some new sounds to Scottish audiences.
See our full listings for the BBC SSO.
The RSNO
Also having a birthday is the RSNO, turning 125 in 2016. Music Director Peter Oundjian has crafted a highly Romantic programme, and we mean that literally. Around (if not actually on) Valentine's Day, punters can swoon to Mahler's Adagietto and Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto, but the season is dripping with masterworks by Berlioz, Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Liszt, Chopin and Szymanowski. There's also a focus on Stravinsky, including the Rite of Spring (and if you haven't experienced it, the Breaking Bad of classical music, now's your chance) and new works by Scotland's great living Romantic, James MacMillan. It all climaxes, so to speak, with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
See our full listings for the RSNO.
The SCO
The Scottish Chamber Orchestra is having a welcome fit of Brahms, delivering no less than six concerts featuring the work of the smartest, subtlest and saddest of composers. All four symphonies and the Requiem will be performed, and guest conductor Emmanuel Krivine has programmed the Haydn Variations in a concert also featuring the work of Brahms' great rival, Wagner. John Butt conducts music by JS Bach and two of his sons, tearaway WF and golden boy CPE; there are new works by Finland's Lotta Wennäkoski and Iceland's Hafliði Hallgrímsson; and three of Beethoven's most exciting symphonies: the Third, the Fifth and the Seventh. For kids, there's Jonathan Dove's fairy tale The Crocodiamond, with a story by Anthony Horowitz.
See our full listings for the SCO.
Scotland has too many orchestras? Germany has fifteen times Scotland's population, but forty times as many orchestras. Clearly, we need to catch up.