Monday 13 April 2015

Review written for the Manchester Evening News 10 April 2015


ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA  Bridgewater Hall

 

THE Royal Philharmonic has a sound that’s its own, and it’s mainly to do with full-on tone production and a very clear cello line – indeed it was quite a surprise to hear so much volume coming from a band of 50 strings, when some top orchestras would rarely be seen without 60.

Their concert at the Bridgewater Hall, with Pinchas Zukerman as violin soloist, was on traditional lines in the choice of music – two Beethovens and Elgar – and pretty traditional in the way they played, too. 

Conductor was Christoph Koenig, and with Clio Gould leading they managed to get the opening tuttis of Beethoven’s Coriolan overture together by the fifth attack, which wasn’t bad for a start from cold. After that it went very well (except for the final plucked unison), and very much in the central European tradition of big and resonant. 

It was Beethoven on auto-pilot at times, too, which now and then applied to the ‘Pastoral’ symphony (no. 6) also. All four horn players came on to share duties and beef up the sound where required, and the wind players made lovely birdsong amid an appealingly transparent texture from the full band. 

There was nothing so modern as an exposition repeat in the first movement, though, but the storm evocation was open-throttle and thunderous, and much lovely mellow playing came in the second and final movements. I think they were as entranced by the sheer beauty of the writing as we were, and enjoying the experience, too. 

So were the audience – despite a gentle ticking-off from the conductor to some for applauding after the first movement. Charles Hallé liked to hear applause after a good symphonic opening, and I don’t see why anyone shouldn’t reinstate the practice for music of this era. I say don’t worry, folks. 

Zukerman’s account of the Elgar violin concerto was positive and by no means over-sentimental. Even the tenderest of themes had a bit of swagger and flourish in his hands, and the orchestra brought its incisive brass to a rendering that was fully in sympathy with the composer’s voice and yet seemed to lack direction occasionally. 

The middle movement had sweetness and winsomeness and at the end the right sense of awe and self-effacement, while the finale brought more hushed nostalgia alongside touches of Edwardian grandeur, which went down very well with the public.  

*** 

Robert Beale

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