Page 563 - Media Coverage Book - 75th Aldeburgh Festival 2024
P. 563
21 June 2024
Gerhardt and Wigglesworth triumph in Unsuk
Chin and Bruckner with the BBC SSO
By Roy Westbrook, 21 June 2024
The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra opened their second Festival appearance with
Unsuk Chin’s Cello Concerto, written for Alban Gerhardt. The orchestra and soloist
premiered it at the BBC Proms in 2009, and Gerhardt has played it 40 times since. It is a
big piece, four movements playing for 30 minutes. Chin explains that her work is "about the
competitive tension between the soloist and the orchestra, where the orchestra
responds…in an antagonistic way". She adds that "one could even speak of a
'psychological warfare' between soloist and orchestra". The solo part deploys "special
playing techniques and call for unusual timbres, including noises and rasping sounds".
Alban Gerhardt
© Angus Cooke
