@ Usher Hall, Edinburgh, on Fri 8 Apr 2016

It has to be said that Stéphane Denève’s ten minutes of ‘stand-up’ before this evening’s concert gets underway, isn’t really necessary, useful or even particularly amusing, although the audience do seem to enjoy it. Nevertheless, it is good to see that with Denève at its helm once again, the RSNO appear to be palpably relaxed and in good spirits.

It is a shame that the programme is somewhat bitty, comprising a hodge-podge of relatively short works that don’t quite marry together: it seems to want to be all things to all people. Despite this, however, there is still much here to make the evening a generally agreeable one.

It is a lovely touch, for example, to preface Debussy’s Marche écossaise with a piper playing the original highland tune upon which it is based. Segueing into a nicely rendered performance of the Marche, the orchestra remain endearingly bright and responsive throughout. James MacMillan’s UK premiere of The Death of Oscar follows, and is played equally well. This is a work with something of a split personality, a fight between a dark, deliberating modernism and something more open and tonally centred.

Ravel’s Piano Concerto for the Left Hand is less convincing, and is in any case a strange bedfellow for the MacMillan, which really doesn’t work well as the sandwich filling for the first half. Although Steven Osborne’s technique is of course excellent, he doesn’t quite manage to capture the spirit of the Ravel, which requires both a litheness in its phrasing and an overall feeling of Gallic joy and breathlessness.

Opening the second half, Richard Strauss’ Death and Transfiguration is possibly too relaxed, all of its late romantic nuance lost in the ruckus, leaving us with something akin to a hastily drafted summary of the work. This would certainly benefit from a more fastidious approach. It is also difficult to understand how the Strauss fits with the rest of the programme, especially followed, as it is, by Ravel’s La Valse, which feels like more of a clash than a balanced contrast.

La Valse at least sees the orchestra firmly back in its comfort zone, and ends a rather eccentric musical journey on a genuine high note.