Well, it’s only been a few short weeks since Umberto Clerici was named the new Chief Conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, kicking off officially in 2023, but it’s clear that he’s already raring and ready to go with this program, which covers some serious orchestral heavy-hitters.

Daniel Müller-Schott, Umberto Clerici and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Elgar and Mahler, 2022. Photo © Peter Wallis

The big drawcard for this concert was star cello soloist Daniel Müller-Schott’s performance of the Elgar Cello Concerto. It would be fair to say that Müller-Schott is one of the best and brightest cellists working today, and looking over just his recorded discography alone, it’s pretty much a who’s who of classical music. He’s recorded the Elgar before with the Oslo Philharmonic and André Previn in a fine performance, so it’s a piece that he knows intimately. Still, the big question with any cellist’s performance of this pinnacle of the repertoire is always how a performer escapes from the looming shadow of Jacqueline du Pré’s famous recording, which tends to leave a mark on other cellists’ takes.

Interestingly, in his mid-2000s recorded version, Müller-Schott...