SCO Yeol Eum Son plays Beethoven Usher Hall Edinburgh 8th May 2025 Review
SCO Yeol Eum Son plays Beethoven at the Usher Hall Edinburgh tonight was not only an opportunity to hear one of the fast rising stars of the classical music world add her own individuality to the music of Beethoven but, once again, by careful curative programming, be reminded of just how interwoven music and its creator so often is.
The full programme of music for this evening’s concert was as below and connecting all three works of music, even if indirectly or not as we now know, unintentionally, Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809).
BRAHMS Variations on a theme by Haydn (St Anthony Chorale) (1873)
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No 3 (c 1800)
HAYDN Nelson Mass in D minor (1798)
Opening tonight’s music was BRAHMS Variations on a Theme by Haydn (St Anthony Chorale), a work that has more than a few different names (depending upon who you ask) and the informative programme notes by David Kettle tell the tale of a work that has more than a few mysteries to it. Brahms was attracted to this well-known work of the day by its unusual musical composition (5 bars instead of the usual 4) and his variations around the central musical theme are interesting on many different levels, not least their simple playfulness.
As the programme notes inform us though, the instruments that this work is written for simply were not available to him, so that when this work was published some years after Haydn’s death, it was obviously in someone’s interest to make the great composer the author of it. To be honest, this for me does not devalue the original work in any way, or Brahms’ inventive variations on it. I would be surprised, however, if Brahms himself did not have some questions about the origins of this music.
The BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No 3 (c 1800) with pianist Yeol Eum Son was not only the title of tonight’s programme, but the work that many people probably came out to hear for different reasons. One reason would be the work itself as, unlike Beethoven’s first piano concerto, this is not a heavily Haydn influenced work by a young musician at the start of his career, but the work of one who is not only rising swiftly in fame as a composer, but also one who is firmly establishing his own musical style. This almost single-minded belief in his own musical abilities and the paths that he wanted to explore were to play their part in the short time that Beethoven spent as Haydn’s pupil. Despite their differences of opinion, both men were to continue to hold each other’s works in high respect.
Beethoven Piano concert No 3 is full of surprises, and one of those is just how late the solo piano begins. When it did though, Yeol Eum Son did not miss the opportunity to show this audience why her technical and interpretational skills over a wide musical repertoire have made her such an in-demand musician/performer today. This work and Yeol Eum Son’s performance were probably what many people think of when they imagine what a classical music piano solo will look and sound like.
Haydn finally made his own musical appearance tonight with HAYDN Nelson Mass in D minor (1798). Sung in Latin with Anna Dennis (Soprano), Katie Bray (Mezzo Soprano), Anthony Gregory (tenor), Neil Davies (Bass Barritone) and the SCO chorus on vocals, this work is in some ways written to an established formula, but it was Haydn who really created and perfected this formula. With the SCO and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev at the musical helm tonight, there was no doubt that this work was by Haydn, by now a very successful composer at the top of his musical abilities.
For this performance, we got to hear just how distinctive Haydn’s sound could be as his use of strings, trumpets, timpani and organ are always fresh and often unexpected in how they interweave with each other. Tonight we also had the luxury of the parts originally written for the wind instruments to be put back into this work. The wind instruments were removed from the original performance due to wartime budget cuts in the original orchestra.
As always with the SCO, a blend of familiar with less well-known works (to me anyhow) made for an entertaining and informative evening of music.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
The full programme of music for this evening’s concert was as below and connecting all three works of music, even if indirectly or not as we now know, unintentionally, Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809).
BRAHMS Variations on a theme by Haydn (St Anthony Chorale) (1873)
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No 3 (c 1800)
HAYDN Nelson Mass in D minor (1798)
Opening tonight’s music was BRAHMS Variations on a Theme by Haydn (St Anthony Chorale), a work that has more than a few different names (depending upon who you ask) and the informative programme notes by David Kettle tell the tale of a work that has more than a few mysteries to it. Brahms was attracted to this well-known work of the day by its unusual musical composition (5 bars instead of the usual 4) and his variations around the central musical theme are interesting on many different levels, not least their simple playfulness.
As the programme notes inform us though, the instruments that this work is written for simply were not available to him, so that when this work was published some years after Haydn’s death, it was obviously in someone’s interest to make the great composer the author of it. To be honest, this for me does not devalue the original work in any way, or Brahms’ inventive variations on it. I would be surprised, however, if Brahms himself did not have some questions about the origins of this music.
The BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No 3 (c 1800) with pianist Yeol Eum Son was not only the title of tonight’s programme, but the work that many people probably came out to hear for different reasons. One reason would be the work itself as, unlike Beethoven’s first piano concerto, this is not a heavily Haydn influenced work by a young musician at the start of his career, but the work of one who is not only rising swiftly in fame as a composer, but also one who is firmly establishing his own musical style. This almost single-minded belief in his own musical abilities and the paths that he wanted to explore were to play their part in the short time that Beethoven spent as Haydn’s pupil. Despite their differences of opinion, both men were to continue to hold each other’s works in high respect.
Beethoven Piano concert No 3 is full of surprises, and one of those is just how late the solo piano begins. When it did though, Yeol Eum Son did not miss the opportunity to show this audience why her technical and interpretational skills over a wide musical repertoire have made her such an in-demand musician/performer today. This work and Yeol Eum Son’s performance were probably what many people think of when they imagine what a classical music piano solo will look and sound like.
Haydn finally made his own musical appearance tonight with HAYDN Nelson Mass in D minor (1798). Sung in Latin with Anna Dennis (Soprano), Katie Bray (Mezzo Soprano), Anthony Gregory (tenor), Neil Davies (Bass Barritone) and the SCO chorus on vocals, this work is in some ways written to an established formula, but it was Haydn who really created and perfected this formula. With the SCO and conductor Maxim Emelyanychev at the musical helm tonight, there was no doubt that this work was by Haydn, by now a very successful composer at the top of his musical abilities.
For this performance, we got to hear just how distinctive Haydn’s sound could be as his use of strings, trumpets, timpani and organ are always fresh and often unexpected in how they interweave with each other. Tonight we also had the luxury of the parts originally written for the wind instruments to be put back into this work. The wind instruments were removed from the original performance due to wartime budget cuts in the original orchestra.
As always with the SCO, a blend of familiar with less well-known works (to me anyhow) made for an entertaining and informative evening of music.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
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