This was a spectacular concert to kick off the TSO 2024 Series at Federation Concert Hall, an evening of big Romantic pieces for a capacity Hobart audience.

Following introductions by CEO Caroline Sharpen, the performance opened with a brief impressionistic piece by Australian composer Mary Finsterer. Gentle, shimmering orchestral textures featured in Lumen prime aurore (first dawn’s light), a depiction of the Aurora Australis. It made for an easeful introduction into the evening’s music-making.

The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and pianist Yeol Eum Son at Federation Concert Hall, Hobart. Photo © Caleb Miller

Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in D minor, Op. 30 remains one of the most popular and technically challenging of all such works. South Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son, making her second Hobart appearance (Limelight also reviewed her first, here), gave a splendid and personal account. The opening was very gentle and restrained; the approach poetic and refined with clean, sparkling finger work in the quieter sections of the first two movements.

Yeol Eum Son’s consummate technique was never in doubt but her interpretation reserved its full power for the work’s great climaxes which exploded with force and...