The UN held its first meeting, Winston Churchill delivered his “iron curtain” speech and in London Sir Thomas Beecham founded the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Over 80 years, few ensembles have been as inventive or chameleonlike, embracing everything from film soundtracks such as The Bridge on the River Kwai to pumped-up rock anthems in Hooked on Classics. This birthday celebration may have looked a little safe on paper, but each work represented a creative leap forward: in 1804, Beethoven’s Triple Concerto was the first to feature an entire piano trio as concertante soloist; in 1899, Richard Strauss’s Ein Heldenleben was the composer’s most colossally orchestrated score to date.
Vasily Petrenko, the latest in a line of RPO music directors that includes Rudolf Kempe and André Previn, proved an obliging accompanist in the Beethoven before delivering an affectionate and spacious account of the Strauss. First, though, came the world premiere of Errollyn Wallen’s Flare. A trio of whooping trumpets followed by a massive wallop on full orchestra and off it went, a two-minute orchestral joyride, all barefaced horns and effervescent strings.
The Triple Concerto was light on its feet, Petrenko spotlighting the poetic, almost flirtatious performances of cellist Pablo Ferrández and violinist Julia Fischer. Pianist Jan Lisiecki, rather awkwardly placed with his back to them, found moments to swivel around, cajoling the string duo into a lyrical threesome. Amid the collegiate C major sunshine, the scrupulously balanced trio still found room to pull virtuosic rabbits out of Beethoven’s musical hat.
By way of contrast, Strauss’s tone poem got off to a determined start, the RPO strings chugging along with limber woodwind and rock-solid brass (nine horns – “quite the thing to express heroism,” the composer declared). The Hero’s Companion, a portrait of the composer’s tempestuous wife, was carried off with self-effacing virtuosity by leader Duncan Riddell. The strength of this performance, however, lay in its sense of vision and musical cohesion.
The rip-roaring orchestral battle, with laser-focused offstage brass and the final retreat from the world with its soulful strings, saw Petrenko and the RPO emerge as the real heroes of the night.
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