A trio of exiled composers: Petrenko and the RPO at the Royal Festival Hall

As part of its “Lights in the Dark” series, bravura, brilliance and playful invention brought distinction to this Royal Philharmonic Orchestra programme featuring émigré composers born within the tail end of the 19th century, yet each finding a home in the United States in the 20th. How fascinating it was to hear such stylistic variety from Bartók, Korngold and Rachmaninov whose three works were conceived within a decade of one another.

Of those World War 2 refugees that left Nazi Germany, it has been said “Hitler shook the tree, and America gathered the apples”. The child prodigy Korngold, who rose to international acclaim whilst still a teenager, was one such figure whose music for the stage found expressive outlet in swashbuckling film scores. The Sea Hawk is arguably his finest and was heard here in Patrick Russ’s 2003 reconstruction, comprising Main Theme, Reunion, The Albatross and Freedom. Korngold’s rich harmonic palette and stirring melodies were outlined with evident affection in this 'sawn off' version, the music’s derring-do and tender rumination uppermost in this colourfully cinematic account.

Then on to another of the last great Romantics for Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, the RPO now joined by Bruce Liu. From the start this was a gripping collaboration, nothing routine or indulgent from a forthright traversal that gained much from Liu’s technical wizardry, delicacy of tone and crystalline articulation, all delivered by his hunched posture over the keyboard. Variation 18 beguiled in its subtlety, tenderness and quiet rumination. No rubato or sentimentalising either with the Hollywood moment, all beautifully contained with an overall undemonstrative conception of the work. Thereafter, Petrenko presided over an ideal account, with gratifying wind solos, and enabling rising tensions to develop naturally, Rachmaninov’s punishing octaves impeccably delivered and the closing paragraph rich in bravura and orchestral detail, concluding with no small hint of roguish glee. 

Returning to the platform, Liu offered Liszt’s La Campanella. With little sign of any previously perceived showmanship, he provided further evidence of his peerless technique that had won for him the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2021.

Bartók’s Concerto for Orchestra is not the first of its kind (Hindemith’s identically titled work precedes it by some 20 years), but it remains core repertoire with most orchestras. This meticulously prepared account, showcasing each section of the RPO, unfolded in an unbroken sweep arguably bringing its constantly shifting vistas into sharper focus and allowing for accumulating momentum. Its opening disquiet was nicely achieved, its mystery later yielding to outbursts from the brass, scintillating woodwind and ferocious strings. The eventful Game of Pairs, initiated by the composer’s playful version of ‘the animals went in two by two’, was stylishly conveyed, as too a glowing brass chorale and no less distinctive string glissandi. Matters darkened for the Elegia – its brooding conjuring a witch’s coven, and its dramas finding resolution in a briefly haunting piccolo figure. Trim woodwind and parping trombones coloured a cleanly articulated Intermezzo, its gleeful nose thumbing towards Shostakovich as derisive as ever. The abrupt mood swings of the Finale caught the ear, as did a neatly executed fugal passage from polished strings, then on to a pulse-raising final furlong to conclude a copper-bottomed rendition.