Scottish Ensemble - Britten - Aberdeen Press and Journal

There was exquisitely beautiful playing from Clio Gould and the Scottish Ensemble in the Mitchell Hall last night when they celebrated the music of Britten and Frank Bridge with a little Purcell for good measure.

Britten's Variations On A Theme Of Frank Bridge blends humour, parody and a sense of the macabre.

The Viennese Waltz in which the string tone suddenly became skeletal sent a shiver down the spine.

Frank Bridge's own suite for string orchestra brought forth sumptuous string tone and a lovely softness in the Nocturne.

What I found most impressive, however, was the opening piece, Les Illuminations, in which Britten has set some of the poems of Arthur Rimbaud.

Here the strings were set against pure lyric tenor singing from Iain Paton but Clio Gould and her players produced far more than just backing.