
A Scottish Chamber Orchestra Prom of Rameau, Saint-Saëns and Beethoven revealed an emerging broadcast-led strategy in this year’s season: programming designed to be safe rather than startling. But Maxim Emelyanychev’s gritty, defiant Beethoven 5 proved a reminder of why this work is not just enjoyed, but needed.

What makes Il Pomo D’Oro’s Mozart odyssey the gripping audio treat it is? Much has to do with the mass of contradictions found in conductor Maxim Emelyanychev.