Under Santtu-Matias Rouvali, the Philharmonia gave an interesting and occasionally rather bleak programme for a Sunday afternoon concert, juxtaposing Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto no. 2 in C sharp minor with two Strauss tone poems. The Shostakovich was a rewarding, albeit demanding listen, but flaws in the Strauss detracted from the overall experience.
Before the heavy-duty concerto, however, a brief amuse-bouche in the form of Sibelius’s Andante festivo, a rich and warm little dainty performed here with a sinuous glossiness, the strings ebbing and flowing, the piece developing entirely organically. A welcome start to the concert and an appropriate counterpoint to the Shostakovich.
Violinist Vadim Gluzman joined the orchestra for a muscular, exhausting account of Shostakovich’s final concerto. It’s a bleak, slightly haunting work which demands a great deal from its soloist against lean orchestration. Gluzman and Rouvali captured the balance adroitly, the rumbling of the deeper strings against Gluzman’s pallid tone perfectly judged. Gluzman’s early playing, technically extremely good particularly in the formidable runs, conveyed a sense of struggle, before a level of defiant jauntiness seemed to creep into his performance, the string equivalent of a nonchalant whistle. His precision continued into the third movement, the playing deftly frenzied over woodwind flurries. Little moments of contrast were emphasised – a glorious glow to the solo horn in the second movement offering a brief gleam against the darkness. Gluzman gave a thoughtful encore of Silvestrov’s Serenade.
Theoretically the transition from the Shostakovich into Strauss’ Tod und Verklärung should have been ideal, but despite a clean orchestral sound, Rouvali struggled to bring that sense of transcendence that elevates a performance from good to great. A buttery violin solo from Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay, excellent flute playing and some hulking contributions from the cellos did not quite make up for a certain central inertia. The final piece, Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche was more effectively played, capturing the roguish swagger of the folk hero with excellent horn and clarinet contributions. Rouvali just about held his forces together without giving a sense of restraint; the violins at their most fortissimo almost desperate to escape their bounds. Perky yet precise, this performance had character, the pacing, particularly in the piece’s final moments spot on. Perhaps reversing the order of the two works might have been more effective in releasing Tod und Verklärung, but the energy and spirit of Till Eulenspiegels was an uplifting note on which to end the afternoon.
