RLPO woodwinds to the fore in an orchestra without violins

This Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra concert had two big differences from usual. First the venue. It was given in the pristine Tung Auditorium in the University of Liverpool rather than the Philharmonic Hall. And then the orchestra: no violins, no percussion. The combination gave the audience a new aural experience to start the 2024-45 season (even if the “official” opening concert is not for another three weeks). Plenty was unchanged, though. The faces in the orchestra were familiar and the orchestra’s Chief Conductor Domingo Hindoyan presided. The quality of the playing was as superb as ever.

Dvořák’s Serenade for Winds in D minor opened the programme. The composer had recently heard Mozart’s Gran Partita and this Serenade was for a very similar line-up of performers: 11 winds plus cello and double bass. The piece looks back to the time of Mozart with a classical elegance, but the exuberance of Czech folk music is never far away. The acoustics of the Tung Auditorium ensured that each individual contribution was crystal clear and we heard some very fine chamber music playing. In the second and fourth movements in particular the easy-going humour of the piece came to the fore. If I had to highlight one player it would be clarinettist Miquel Ramos who appeared to be leading the band and enjoying every minute.

The second piece was by the rarely-played Paul Hindemith. Kammermusik no. 5 dates from 1925 and is a concerto for viola and large chamber orchestra. Hindemith himself was a viola player and his love for his instrument shines through in this demanding concerto. The soloist was Nicholas Bootiman, the RLPO’s joint Principal Viola. The orchestra added a brass complement to the woodwinds from the Dvořák (but with only two horns) and some strings: four cellos and four double basses but no violas or violins, giving a unique sound. Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos were a model for Hindemith and this was evident especially in the first movement which had a distinct neo-Baroque feel. Bootiman had scarcely a moment’s pause in this energetic, driven music. If the first movement brought Stravinsky to mind, the second was more lyrical and expressive, even expressionistic; perhaps we were in the world of Verklärte Nacht. 

Bootiman had more opportunity than in the first movement to communicate directly with the audience in his solos. In the third we had some remarkable contrasts between winds and strings. The finale is a dislocated military march where the viola sometimes seemed at odds with the orchestra. And then it stopped, all too abruptly. I was mesmerised by Bootiman’s stunning playing in this unfamiliar music. More Hindemith please!

The second half of the concert was taken up by Brahms’ Serenade no. 2 in A major, a relatively early work preceding all of his symphonies and one of Brahms’ sunniest compositions. Here the orchestra comprised woodwinds, two horns but no other brass, four double basses, four cellos and, for the first time in the evening, four violas. The central slow movement was the serious, dramatic heart of the piece and was played with great intensity, but the predominant mood was light-hearted and good-humoured. The fun culminated in the final Rondo where a piccolo brightened the tone and the piece was brought to a warm-hearted conclusion.

Thanks to an unfamiliar focus on the woodwinds, a new venue and a fine performance of an intriguing concerto, this was a refreshingly unusual and thoroughly enjoyable concert.