Simone Lamsma dazzles in Britten as Chauhan brings sunshine to a stormy Liverpool

On a sodden, grey Liverpool evening, conductor Alpesh Chauhan brought a welcome burst of warmth to the Philharmonic Hall. Copland’s El Salón México opened the programme with an exuberance that cut through the drizzle like sunshine through storm clouds. Chauhan drew crisp, buoyant textures from the orchestra, handling the work’s rhythmic shifts and tonal colour with vitality. His physical connection to the music was clear, almost dancing on the podium. Notable solos from the brass and woodwind sections of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra added flair to this evocative performance.

Britten’s Violin Concerto was composed while staying with Copland in 1938–39. Always one to subvert tradition, Britten takes the familiar three-movement form and turns it on its head, producing a concerto of extraordinary emotional and technical depth. Simone Lamsma met every demand with a rendition that was not only masterful, but transformative. From the first bars, her Stradivarius sang with clarity and authority, delivering the bold opening with both elegance and conviction. It was immediately clear that Lamsma brought not just technical prowess, but a fully formed vision. Her tone was rich and lyrical across the entire range of the instrument. 

In the first movement, each solo passage was distinct in colour yet unified in musical intention, woven together like a patchwork of delicate silk threads. The second movement revealed Lamsma’s fire: she attacked the spiky rhythms and swift shifts with grit and dynamism, all while maintaining an effortless grace. Her communication with the audience was remarkable, drawing them into Britten’s turbulent world. Chauhan and the RLPO provided subtle but yet supportive accompaniment, allowing Lamsma to take the spotlight. 

The final movement, a passacaglia, presented its own set of challenges  – variation form over a repeating bass line, austere and emotionally raw. Lamsma was in complete command, her bow moving with sorcerous precision. A silence followed, an audience mesmerised by Lamsma’s abilities to convey emotion and technical prowess took heed and returned back to earth. Such conviction in such a singular work speaks to Lamsma’s extraordinary insight and to Chauhan’s sensitivity.

Carlos Simon’s Four Black American Dances, premiered in 2023, offered a series of pastiche soundscapes, more poetically than rhythmically driven. Chauhan and the RLPO delivered them with style, though the earlier intensity had waned a little.

Ravel’s Pavane pour une infante défunte followed with a restrained reading that felt too sedate. As a bridge between Simon and Ravel’s explosive La Valse, it missed the melancholy contrast needed to fully land. La Valse itself, though ambitious, never quite reached the feverish climax required for its final collapse to devastate. Chauhan’s interpretation had vision, but the whirlwind lacked force. Nevertheless, this was a night marked by Lamsma’s breathtaking take on Britten’s concerto.