First published in The Herald on 14 October, 2013
RSNO/Oundjian
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
During his customary mid-concert chat to the audience, Peter Oundjian noted that Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra isn’t usually heard by anyone over than the age of about ten. (“Which excludes at least a few of you,†he teased the overwhelmingly silver-haired congregation.) Oundjian has a point, and he’s right to feature the Guide as ‘serious’ music – as the vivid and vivacious set of theme and variations that it is.