Work: Symphony no. 5 in F major, Op.76

Two spirited, late romantic works bookended a more somber one in Ludovic Morlot’s Masterworks performance with the Seattle Symphony.

Franz Welser-Möst conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in a program which also included Messiaen’s 1932 Hymne and Dvořák’s Fifth Symphony.

On walking into the foyer of Colston Hall, I was greeted by the sound of a jazz band playing The Girl from Ipanema. This was not quite what I expected from the Colston Hall’s “Symphony Project”, but nevertheless a tasteful and welcoming opening, that created a cheerful atmosphere.

A hush fell over the auditorium as renowned concert pianist and long-standing friend of the LSO Mitsuko Uchida took her seat for Mozart’s Rondo in A minor for solo piano. A personal tribute to Sir Colin Davis, Uchida opened the Rondo with almost childlike simplicity, the delicate chromaticism of the opening theme played with simplicity and tenderness and a magical connection to the melodic line.