EIF: Philharmonia Orchestra
Usher Hall - 07/08/22
The evening of Sunday 7th brought London’s great Philharmonia Orchestra, with their new Finnish Principal Conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali and Korean pianist Seong-Jin Cho, to the Usher Hall for the second day of the International Festival, with a programme of two works, each in its own way a giant of the repertoire.
First, Seong-Jin Cho was the soloist in Beethoven’s majestic Piano Concerto No.5, ‘Emperor’. The confident cadenza-like opening displayed immediately what was to become a feature of the performance: flawless articulation unveiling every detail of the music to the listener. As the orchestra introduced the main themes, I was also struck by the warm ensemble sound enjoying the acoustic of our wonderful hall, and mused of what a treat this was, not just for audience, but also performers used to the drier acoustic of the Royal Festival Hall. The music was allowed to breathe in the flowing passages, whilst the bright staccato at the tops of runs was pronounced but not excessive.
The slow movement, one of great delicacy and beauty, is marked adagio un poco mosso. It was played more adagietto, giving it a songlike quality but robbing it of the capacity for the long phrases of the soloist’s entry to make time stand still. It was nonetheless beautifully played, but much of the magic was lost. By contrast, the transition to the finale, where Beethoven seems to tentatively try out the opening phrase before launching into a boisterous rustic dance, was masterly. The finale was permeated by a sense of mischief, with key changes beautifully pointed. The conversational interplay between soloist and orchestra was delicious, as was the coda.
As an encore, the soloist played Handel’s Air and Variations, a.k.a. ‘The Harmonious Blacksmith’, with great virtuosity and clarity. Scrumptious.
The work after the interval was Shostakovich’s monumental Symphony No.10. It is perhaps the most candidly autobiographical of the symphonies and the most revelatory of inner trauma and anxiety, whether in the angst-ridden first movement with its climactic outpourings of grief and rage, the violent menace of the scherzo (a portrait of Stalin?), the self-mocking grotesquery of the macabre waltz-like third movement, or indeed the enigmatic finale with its introspective slow introduction, initially gleeful allegro rushing headlong into a crash, picking up the pieces and emerging at last to exultant triumph. It represents the pinnacle of Shostakovich’s mature counterpoint and mastery of symphonic form.
This work needs a conductor who grasps its form in its entirety and has the interpretative skill and vision, not to mention force of musical personality, to realise it fully, together with a cohesive ensemble of players dedicated to that realisation, and that is exactly what it got. Virtuoso solos abound in this score and all were excellent. I would single out the piccolo duet at the end of the first movement, the flawless horn playing in the third movement and the arabesques for cor anglais, oboe, flute and bassoon in the introduction to the finale. A truly memorable performance.
Cover photo: Ryan Buchanan