After compelling concertos written for violinist Nicola Benedetti and violist Timothy Ridout, Mark Simpson’s new concerto for the iconic pianist Víkingur Ólafsson gets its Nordic premiere at this concert, with its dedicatee as the soloist. Simpson writes what The Times has described as ‘contemporary music with a pulsing heart’. His new concerto, co-commissioned by the orchestra and conducted by its Honorary Conductor and former Music Director Edward Gardner is guaranteed to make its mark.

When Felix Mendelssohn visited Scotland in 1829, he was utterly overcome. The streets of Edinburgh had as much impact on the composer as the dramatic hillsides of the Hebrides. Both fuelled his bracing Scottish symphony, a sonic souvenir that moves from dark standing stones to gregarious folk tunes.

Two years before Mendelssohn visited Scotland, Hector Berlioz discovered one of his own great inspirations: William Shakespeare. His King Lear overture of 1830 carries the solemnity and tenderness of Shakespeare’s play within Berlioz’s own brand of orchestral panache.