Breathtaking performance by the London Symphony Orchestra and their Principal Guest Conductor Gianandrea Noseda at the Edinburgh International Festival

In writing his Symphony No 11. "The Year 1905, Shostakovich was not only composing a colossus of a piece to commemorate the Russian Revolution of that year, but music about events which were deeply personal to him and his family. Wringing that emotion out of its four continuous movements over the course of an hour, the London Symphony Orchestra and their Principal Guest Conductor, Gianandrea Noseda, built up a sense of foreboding suspense and tension at the Usher Hall on Monday evening, starting with Palace Square and its

tragic massacre. ( ...)

The tall figure of Noseda stooped to coax plaintive melodies from strings and wind, and the most remarkably uniform pizzicatos from cellos and double basses.

For all that the Shostakovich was exciting and edge of the seat stuff, Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No 2, was dreamy, reflective, rich and sensual. The Scotsman, Carole Main

I want to focus on the unique features of the Noseda’s interpretation. First, I was hugely impressed at his attention to detail in the shaping of every phrase and the unanimity of the players in honouring the musical direction. But this was also within a clear and shared vision of the structure and impact of the whole symphony. The violas’ lament in the elegiac third movement exemplified this most clearly, but it was a feature of the whole performance. The use of a set of four mounted church bells instead of tubular bells at the final defiant peroration of the finale was a first time for me and it’s a fabulous sound. Edinburg Music Review, Donal Hurley