SCO 2022: François Leleux

Flamboyant French oboist and conductor François Leleux is a regular and much-loved collaborator with the Orchestra: his larger-than-life personality and breathtaking musical prowess have charmed and delighted SCO audiences across several seasons.

Leleux gives the world premiere performance of a brand new oboe concerto, written specially for him by prolific Parisian composer Laurent Petitgirard, widely admired for his evocative film scores. Entitled 'SOUEN WOU K’ONG', the concerto takes its inspiration from the Monkey King of Chinese legend, who embarks on an adventure-filled Buddhist pilgrimage with the monk Tripitaka and spirits Pigsy and Sandy.

Leleux opens with Bizet’s stirring incidental music to 'L’Arlésienne', and closes with Beethoven’s Second Symphony, written while the composer was reeling from the diagnosis of his on-coming deafness, but bristling with happiness, humor and all the power of a coiled spring.

BIZET 'L'Arlésienne', Suite No 1
PETITGIRARD Oboe Concerto (SCO and Swedish Chamber Orchestra commission: World Premiere)
BEETHOVEN Symphony No 2 in D Major, Op 36

François Leleux: conductor / oboe

Sponsored by the Insitut français d'Ecosse.