Keith Bruce

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev deliver a five-star concert staging of Mozart’s Don Giovanni at the Edinburgh International Festival. Innovative use of the Usher Hall space, strong ensemble singing and an international cast make the opera fully comprehensible despite minimal scenery and rehearsal time. The review particularly praises Emelyanychev’s handling of the work’s shifts between comedy and darkness, as well as standout performances by Louise Alder, Janai Brugger, Hera Hyesang Park and Konstantin Krimmel.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic and Gustavo Dudamel received a four-star review for their Edinburgh Festival appearance at the Usher Hall. Beethoven's Sixth Symphony was praised for its slick pacing, polished strings, clear brass and winds, and an expressive but unsentimental treatment of the Pastoral's bird calls and storm. Thomas Adès's Inferno was judged an even stronger showcase, offering a dramatic orchestral tour de force with echoes of Tchaikovsky and Prokofiev and a dark conclusion depicting Satan in the ice. The residency also links Dudamel's El Sistema background with Scottish projects such as Big Noise and the Benedetti Foundation, ahead of his move from the Los Angeles Philharmonic to the New York Philharmonic.

Death of Gesualdo is praised as an astonishing 80-minute production combining the Gesualdo Six’s flawless a cappella singing with stylized theatre, puppetry, tableaux and striking costumes. Directed by Bill Barclay, the work dramatizes Carlo Gesualdo’s violent life, including the murder of his first wife and her lover, and connects his devotional music to themes of betrayal and Catholic spirituality. The review highlights the production’s compact design, Latin text with English supertitles and Owain Park’s musical direction, while regretting that it received only one Edinburgh International Festival performance.

A five-star Edinburgh Festival tribute to trumpeter and composer John Wallace brought together The Wallace Collection, The Cooperation Band, professional Scottish orchestral players and young musicians. Conducted by Clark Rundell, the programme featured movements from Wallace’s Fife-inspired symphony, his arrangement of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, and works involving youth ensembles. Nicola Benedetti introduced the concert and Wallace’s son Cosmo gave a moving tribute, while former players Alistair Mackie and Gavin Reid joined the performance. The event reflected Wallace’s broad influence, with remembrance concerts also planned at several Scottish festivals.

The Dunedin Consort opened the Edinburgh International Festival’s music programme with the Scottish premiere of Tansy Davies’s Passion of Mary Magdalene at Queen’s Hall. Directed by John Butt, the performance combined baroque instruments, seven singers and soloists Anna Dennis and Marcus Farnsworth, with an electric guitar adding an unconventional color. The review praises Davies’s carefully structured music, the ensemble’s vocal work, Dennis’s portrayal of Mary and Farnsworth’s authoritative Christus, concluding that the work’s emotionally transcendent ending was deeply moving despite its potential to unsettle Christian fundamentalists.

Wynton Marsalis’s large-scale oratorio All Rise opened the Edinburgh International Festival at Usher Hall, performed by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Edinburgh Festival Chorus and Jason Max Ferdinand Singers under James Gaffigan. The review praises the work’s ebullient finale, strong jazz-orchestral interplay, choral highlights and the musicians’ versatility, while noting that its narrative about personal development, Christian faith or community cohesion is not always clear. The performance was judged a fitting, ambitious festival opening, earning four stars.