Edward Gardner has made it his mission as Principal Conductor with the London Philharmonic Orchestra to showcase the work of Michael Tippett. After an acclaimed concert performance of The Midsummer Marriage in 2021, he has continued his advocacy with this revelatory performance of the Second Symphony.
Composed in 1957 to a BBC commission, its shaky early performance history has dogged it ever since. However, the orchestral virtuosity that challenged performers back then is well within the capability of modern orchestras. The LPO were on their toes from the off, with the Vivaldi-inspired low Cs stomping and the upper strings dancing spectacularly around them. This is surely one of the most striking openings of any symphony and the movement continues this momentum throughout. Gardner found a perfect tempo, on the fast side, but allowing for the intricacies of the score and colour of the orchestration to come across with clarity.
It was in the Adagio molto e tranquillo where the performance revealed the true heart of the work. Often it is in Tippett’s slow movements we glimpse the composer’s anguish and his uncanny ability to rise above these feelings in defiance and ecstasy. Gardner held the collage of elements together effortlessly and the effect was, as it should be, not austere, but powerful and moving. The Scherzo was wonderfully buoyant and playful, its tricky additive rhythms a breeze for the fired-up LPO. The fantasia- like finale can seem a tad formless, but under Gardner’s watchful eye the impetus was maintained throughout and the underlying logic was evident as the music moved through its colourful sections. A performance worthy of one of the most important and beautiful symphonies of the last century, that deserves a firmer place in the repertoire.
The concert opened with a pellucid account of the Prelude from Parsifal. The wonderful clarity and sheen of Wagner's orchestration was projected effortlessly and the music’s potent expectancy was allowed to unfold effortlessly. The warmth of the brass sound, not rich but rounded, seemed just right, combining very effectively with the beautiful woodwind writing.
The performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto no. 4 in G major by Seong-Jin Cho was also exceptional. This young South Korean pianist has gone from strength to strength since winning the International Chopin Competition in 2015 and he has performed with many of the great orchestras, as well as being something of a piano superstar in his native land. His account of this most original of Beethoven’s concertos was outstanding in its balance of the lyrical with the dynamic.
It is a work, particularly in the long melismatic opening movement, that tends to insinuate its points through the poetry of the piano writing, leading the listener down unexpected paths with beautiful vistas along the way. The challenge for the pianist is to hold onto the line of those paths without lingering too long to admire the view. Seong-Jin Cho has the uncanny ability to produce a range of colours that can turn on a sixpence, and a flexibility that allows for him to lead the way with authority where necessary. His performance of the great first movement cadenza demonstrated this assertiveness and the wonderful, subdued interplay with the strings in the recitative-like slow movement demonstrated the subtlety of his tonal palette. His sparkling account of the finale, with lively playing from the LPO replete with period trumpets and timpani, rounded off an extremely satisfying outing of much-loved masterpiece.
