ASMF/Isserlis/Bell – review

Usher Hall, EdinburghIt is an odd setup for a Haydn symphony: cellist on conductor's podium with back to audience, orchestra clustered around him. The programme listed Steven Isserlis (the cellist in question) as a standard member of the Academy of St Martin in the Fields string section, but there is nothing standard about having your own personal page-turner. Isserlis conducted Haydn's 13th from the cello – or rather from the hair, lurching side to side, curls shaking like a wet dog. The loo...

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