Scottish Chamber Orchestra-Beethoven's Piano Concertos- The Scotland Herald (Live Review)

The Beethoven Piano concerto series in Perth, the core of the new concert hall's orchestral programmes in its opening season, has been building up a head of steam, with good houses and each pianist bringing what one patron called a "distinctive" quality of the concertos. The series, nearing its climax, is bringing in the big guns for the last two concertos. Artur Pizarro, Lisbon-born and an outstanding musician, brought his inimitable insights to a compelling performance of the Fourth Piano Concerto on Wednesday, in which he teamed up with the unstoppable Sir Charles Mackerras and the SCO in its most refine, responsive and scintillating form. Pizarro has all the armoury of a concert pianist, but one of his greatest interpretative strengths is his expressive power. This was a Beethoven Fourth that could have been conceived as the most intimate chamber music. Pizarro's relaxed, spacious, and poetic vision of the concerto brought out his wonderful lyric qualities, and he gave Beethoven's melodies the breathing space a singer might expect. Everything was understated yet compelling. The dialogue between piano and strings in the slow movement was philosophical rather than rhetorical. The barnstorming hi-jinks of the finale were impeccably-mannered, with the mischief bubbling just beneath the surface. It was a connoisseur's Beethoven Fourth, with Sir Charles and the SCO as immaculate accompanists, and a near-capacity house clearly enthralled by it. Similarly, the needle-point accuracy and stylistic integrity of SCO playing in Haydn's Miracle Symphony were the talk of the bar, while the elan, poise, and virtuosity of the woodwind section's playing in Mozart's Posthorn Serenade were breathtaking. Superb concert, with sheer class, all night, on a long night, from an unrivalled team.