I've got all three phones cheeping now which is quite a noise but not as noisy as Shostakovich's 11th Symphony with which the RSNO's new man, Peter Oundjian, opened the season.  It's a long piece full of tension and excitement, and although it's not all loud it works up to a crash bang finale where one wee percussionist who's been sitting quietly for an hour at last gets out a hammer and bashes his three anvils for a minute or two until the last notes ring out.

At the Usher Hall on Friday the changing moods of the symphony were underscored by changes in stage lighting culminating in a blackout as the music crashed to an end.  It was somewhat more restrained and subtle than the full pop concert extravaganza of swirling coloured beams and smoke effects but who knows where this will lead over the next few months.