Returning to the brutalist setting of St David’s Hall for the first time since a triumphant debut visit in 2000 on their 70th anniversary tour, the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra are warmly greeted tonight by an enthusiastic Cardiff crowd. Particular excitement is reserved for special guest pianist Sir Stephen Hough, whose appearance to deliver a spellbinding rendition of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.3 triggers a rapturous response.

First, though, the ISO turn their hands to the work of one of their countrywomen, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, the orchestra’s composer in residence. Metacosmos is a sincerely powerful evocation of how it might feel to fall through a black hole, and it is delivered in a suitably epic style. Three percussionists attack the piece with vim, and the scrape and whine of the strings produce a sense of unease entirely befitting the nature of the piece’s subject matter. Thorvaldsdottir herself is present to share the applause with an orchestra known for their enthusiasm for the contemporary and keenness to share Icelandic music with the world.

After such a daring opening gambit, the ISO is joined by Hough, who delivers a jaw-droppingly impressive canter through Beethoven’s third piano concerto – the entirety of which he appears to have committed to memory. It provides ample opportunity for Hough to demonstrate the full range of his considerable talent: pace and restraint, attack and compassion. It is a joy to watch a performer demonstrate such apparently easy mastery. The call-and-response between piano and orchestra of the third movement demonstrates a remarkable synergy between the two elements.

The ISO return from the interval to deliver a potent interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s 3rd Symphony. Composer Eva Ollikainen is a force of pure positive energy, a smile never far from her lips, who draws forth great waves of sound from her compatriots. Addressing the audience, the beaming Ollikainen introduces a short, string-dominant encore piece by Daníel Bjarnason, fittingly closing the night with another taste of modern Icelandic composition. 

The Iceland Symphony Orchestra with Sir Stephen Hough, St David’s Hall, Cardiff, Thurs 27 Apr

words HUGH RUSSELL