It’s a grey, damp afternoon in Edinburgh, but brighter (and considerably warmer) in the Usher Hall, where there’s an orchestra onstage rehearsing Beethoven’s ‘Eroica’ with vigour, though something – or rather someone – is missing. Where is the conductor?
I look around and spot a figure dancing down the back rows of the stalls – waving his arms at no-one in particular and staring into space, but somehow in control of matters on the platform. The magic is conjured up by Maxim Emelyanychev, the charismatic 35 year-old who serves as principal conductor to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra (SCO) and is about to take the ensemble into what will be a major anniversary season.
Emelyanychev has only been in charge since 2019, which makes him a relative newcomer. But the orchestra itself has been in business for 50 years: founded in 1974, it has ridden high in public estimation, with few of the mishaps that commonly befall arts organisations.
As one of
