This concert featured the Australian première of Through the eye of the Pegasus (2021) by Swedish composer Albert Schnelzer.

Filled with music of great rhythmic drive and glittering orchestral colour, the 10-minute piece was inspired by the statue of the mythic winged horse on the roof of the Alte Opera House in Frankfurt.

Javier Perianes and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. Photo supplied

Making his welcome fourth collaboration with the TSO, Spanish pianist Javier Perianes gave a performance of Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat, Op. 73 ‘Emperor’ that combined power and poetry in a uniquely satisfying way.

There was no grandstanding in that monumental first movement, which can sometimes come across as overbearing in some performances. Strength was tempered with a contrasting lightness and variety of tone. Perianes’ use of rubato for expressive effect was magical but subtly applied.

Conductor Aadland brought the expected insight and understanding; the orchestra responding to the pianist...