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Earthy folk tunes and foot-tapping dances from olden times pervade François Leleux’s gutsy first concert of this Season.

Joseph Haydn delighted Parisian audiences with the country carnival atmosphere of his Symphony No 82, and its vivid images of bears jigging to rustic bagpipes are what gave the symphony its nickname. Likewise, Anton Webern had a lot of fun with his witty orchestral reimagining of six spirited German Dances by Schubert.

Scholarship suggests that the C Major Oboe Concerto may not be by Haydn, but its singing melodies and fizzing exuberance are the ideal match for Leleux’s animated playing all the same. He closes with the endless melodic inventiveness of Brahms’ ‘St Anthony’ Variations.

Haydn: Symphony No 82 ‘The Bear’
Haydn: Oboe Concerto in C
Schubert (arr Webern): German Dances  
Brahms: Variations on a Theme of Joseph Haydn

François Leleux: Conductor / Oboe

Meet the Artist Insights, 6.30pm: François Leleux in conversation with SCO Chief Executive Gavin Reid

Haydn Oboe Concerto played and conducted by François Leleux