Susan Nickalls

Ali Smith’s quartet of novels—Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer—is being transformed into a concert by the Netherlands-based New European Ensemble and four composers: Kate Moore, Alice Yeung, Seung-Won Oh and Sara Zamboni. The project grew from a Dutch National Theatre adaptation and combines new music with Smith’s live readings. Each composer selected a season and developed a distinct musical response, while the wider programme engages with themes including climate change, migration, Brexit, war and populism. The Seasonal Quartet concert will be performed at Greyfriars Kirk during the Edinburgh International Book Festival and later at Cowdray Hall in Aberdeen.

The Scottish Ensemble and Gaelic musician Brìghde Chaimbeul delivered a highly praised cross-genre performance at the Edinburgh International Festival. The programme combined Gaelic poetry, Chaimbeul’s Scottish smallpipes, slowly evolving string textures and Jonny Ashworth’s atmospheric visual projections. Highlights included the haunting tale “Spòg Liath,” the evocative “A Beak of Light,” and a surprise performance of Philip Glass’s “Music in Similar Motion.”

Three Edinburgh International Festival concerts receive four- or five-star reviews. Alisa Weilerstein’s nearly three-hour performance of all six Bach Cello Suites is praised for its stamina, emotional range and spiritual intensity despite questions about the marathon format. Vilde Frang’s concert with Olli Mustonen and the Eredics brothers successfully links Bartók’s music to Hungarian folk traditions, combining intense sonata playing with lively dances and improvisations. Víkingur Ólafsson’s Bach, Beethoven and Schubert recital is admired for its clarity and intimacy, but his highly controlled dynamics and lack of pauses between composers sometimes blur stylistic differences; the Schubert movements are judged the strongest part of the programme.

The Scotsman’s Edinburgh International Festival roundup gives five-star reviews to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s concert performance of Mozart’s Don Giovanni and Steven Osborne’s recital honoring Alfred Brendel. Don Giovanni is praised for its energetic direction by Maxim Emelyanychev, a strong international cast, vivid ensemble work and the emotional power of its female characters. Osborne’s carefully structured Schubert-centered programme, incorporating works by Judith Weir and James MacMillan, is celebrated for its tonal refinement, intellectual coherence and interpretive originality. A further review awards four stars to Up Late with Mark and Maggie O’Connor, praising its eclectic blend of classical, jazz, folk and Latin American influences despite its deliberately chaotic, loose-limbed character.

The Los Angeles Philharmonic, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel at the Edinburgh International Festival, received strong reviews for performances pairing Beethoven with contemporary composers. Gabriela Ortiz’s Revolución diamantina was praised for its distinctive voice, propulsive rhythms and feminist ballet context, while Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony was described as furious, powerful and full of momentum. A second concert offered a more restrained but finely controlled Beethoven Sixth, followed by Thomas Adés’s Inferno, whose vivid, humorous and sonically dramatic depiction of Dante’s hell proved the more engaging work.

Nicola Benedetti, conductor Kirill Karabits and the Royal Scottish National Orchestra received a five-star review for their Edinburgh performance of Elgar’s Violin Concerto. Benedetti’s virtuosity and expressive playing, together with Karabits’s carefully balanced direction, produced a highly acclaimed interpretation. Stravinsky’s complete The Firebird was also praised for its precision, vivid orchestral textures and fantastical climax. Franghiz Ali-Zadeh’s Nagillar made an effective opener, although its middle sections were judged less substantial.

Four reviews from the Edinburgh International Festival assess performances by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, the Aga Khan Master Musicians with Vincent Peirani and Vincent Segal, William Barton, the electronic-classical duo Joep Beving and Maarten Vos, and Leonidas Kavakos with the Apollon Ensemble. The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and Barton receive the strongest praise for vivid orchestral playing and an arresting showcase of the didgeridoo and Indigenous Australian musical traditions. The Aga Khan ensemble is praised for inventive cross-cultural collaboration, while Kavakos’s Bach survey is judged exceptionally played but somewhat repetitive. Beving and Vos provide a soothing, atmospheric experience with moments of beauty, though parts of the piano writing feel overly familiar.

The Scotsman reviews three Edinburgh International Festival productions. Breaking Bach receives five stars for its exhilarating collaboration between Bach’s period-instrument music, contemporary choreography and young breakdancers. The Dunedin Consort’s performance of Handel’s Clori, Tirsi e Fileno earns three stars: the first half lacks the promised comedy and dramatic energy, but the second half becomes vivid and virtuosic. Faustus In Africa! receives four stars for Handspring Puppet Company’s visually striking production, William Kentridge’s animated designs and its forceful political examination of colonial exploitation in Africa.

Reviews of three Edinburgh International Festival performances praise the London Symphony Orchestra’s festival residency under new principal conductor Antonio Pappano. The orchestra delivered forceful, detailed readings of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Shostakovich’s Tenth Symphony, with the latter conveying fear, tyranny and defiance. At Queen’s Hall, tenor Ian Bostridge, Pappano and LSO musicians offered generally strong performances of Britten, Vaughan Williams and Elgar, despite occasional vocal harshness and uneven string consistency. The Sidiki Dembele Ensemble provided the most overtly celebratory event, combining West African drumming, ngoni, balafon, singing and Aida’s dancing to create a warm, participatory atmosphere.

Reviews from the Edinburgh International Festival praise the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s concert performance of Mozart’s La Clemenza di Tito, highlighting Maxim Emelyanychev’s direction, the exceptional singers—especially Angela Brower—and the orchestra’s period-instrument playing. The Fibonacci Quartet receives top marks for a compelling debut featuring works by Helen Grime, Janáček and Smetana. The Budapest Festival Orchestra earns four stars for Iván Fischer’s dance-themed programme, while the Rising Stars of Woodwind are praised for impressive performances of challenging 20th-century quintets, despite criticism that the mentors’ virtuosic solos were unnecessary.

The opening concert of the China National Centre for the Performing Arts Orchestra’s European tour at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall received four stars. Bruce Liu’s Ravel Piano Concerto in G major was considered uneven and underwhelming, although his Chopin encore revealed his considerable talent; the orchestra’s performance of Saint-Saëns’s Third Symphony was the evening’s highlight under Myung-Whun Chung. At Queen’s Hall, Hugh Cutting and George Ireland earned five stars for the thoughtfully curated “Untethered” recital, whose varied programme explored the Edinburgh International Festival’s theme, The Truth We Seek, with particular emotional depth in works by Hahn and Piers Connor Kennedy.

The youthful NYO2 orchestra opened its Edinburgh International Festival residency at the Usher Hall with Jimmy López’s Perú Negro, Shostakovich’s First Cello Concerto and Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony. Conducted by Rafael Payare, the ensemble was praised for its confidence, dynamism and strong Prokofiev performance, although its balance with soloist Alisa Weilerstein was sometimes uneven. At the Queen’s Hall, María Dueñas and Alexander Malofeev delivered a forceful recital of sonatas by Szymanowski, Debussy and Franck. Dueñas’s fiery musicianship was particularly acclaimed, while Malofeev’s powerful playing occasionally became harsh; their Piazzolla encore was described as brilliant.