English Chamber Orchestra

Leeds Town Hall

Saturday, January 25

Thirty four-year-old Alexander Shelley could almost be described as a “Leeds discovery”. His international career took flight soon after scooping first prize at the 2005 Leeds Conductors Competition.

Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll perhaps showed us why. Shelley conducted an exquisite performance in which every instrumental voice of the wonderful English Chamber Orchestra was translucent. His flexible speeds allowed the woodwind to point up and colour detail whilst the strings, built upon just two double basses and two cellos, had the delicacy and intimacy of chamber music.

This was the perfect foil for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No 24 in C minor K491, whose rich symphonic textures were beautifully delineated by Shelley and the ECO. Imogen Cooper, the evening’s magisterial soloist, is one of today’s foremost Mozart interpreters. Her subtle colouring and the poetic clarity of the musical line were calculated to project the sombre drama of this darkest of Mozart’s piano concertos.

After the interval, Shelley and the ECO turned to Mozart’s final symphony – No 41 in C major, the Jupiter. Shelley somehow created a synergy that infused the entire performance. I have experienced seemingly interminable readings of the Jupiter.

In the hands of Shelley and the ECO the work just flew by. The driving momentum of the opening Allegro Vivace was followed by an achingly beautiful Andante Cantabile movement – the silken woodwind textures beautifully etched against the muted violins and violas. The light and airy third movement Minuet and Trio, with its lovely descending phrases and contrasting sonorities, was followed by an energised, whip-crack-speed finale.

Geoffrey Mogridge