I asked the musicians to play it less ‘merlot’ and more ‘amarone’

Alpesh Chauhan on his ‘big crazy programmes’ in Scotland and getting children into serious music

ABERDEEN’S Music KEITH BRUCEHall may be one of the oldest concert venues in Scotland, but as it reopens following extensive refurbishment its first orchestral concert on December 15 is very much a showcase for youthful music-making.

The soloist playing Grieg’s Piano Concerto with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra is Alice Sara Ott, who turned 30 a couple of months ago, and the conductor, Alpesh Chauhan, already far from a stranger to Scottish audiences, had his 28th birthday in April. He celebrated it in the company of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland’s Symphony Orchestra and Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances on what was his last visit north of the Border.

On this occasion Glasgow audiences will have the opportunity to see him at the City Halls two days before the Aberdeen concert, in an afternoon performance broadcast live on BBC Radio 3, but the only common