On the day when Spain recorded its highest ever April temperature (38.7° at Córdoba Airport!), Domingo Hindoyan and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra brought a dose of Andalusian sunshine and heat to a somewhat chilly Liverpool. The two suites from Manuel de Falla’s ballet The Three-Cornered Hat burst with irresistible local colour, energy and glorious tunes. Hindoyan brought out the nuanced flamenco rhythms that suffuse the work. He carefully marshalled the slowing down and speeding up of the music, so typical of Spanish music, and the ever-changing dynamics. De Falla uses a huge orchestra with enormous subtlety. From the very first timpani blows and fanfare we were transported into the exotic world of Southern Spain. Hindoyan ensured that we could hear so many details that often get hidden in the overall orchestral sound (the fine acoustics of the Philharmonic Hall help a lot).
This substantial opener was the first of three works written only a few years apart. The Three-Cornered Hat was premiered in 1919; Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto was completed just two years later. It is another amazingly energetic work. The focus here was very much on the evening’s soloist, Isata Kanneh-Mason, well-known to Liverpool audiences as an Artist-in-Residence. She must have fingers of steel, as Prokofiev was said to have. Her ability to perform this fiendishly difficult piece was stunning, to watch her hands was mesmerising. The piano writing is often percussive and aggressive rather than lyrical and expressive, but when Kanneh-Mason was playing alone it was breathtaking.
However, the role of the piano is often to blend in with the orchestra, which Kanneh-Mason also achieved with great success, having a fine rapport with players and conductor. Despite the being the iconoclastic enfant terrible who revelled in dissonant harmonies and sarcastic wit, Prokofiev also had an innate melodic gift which was prominent in the clarinet melody at the very beginning of the concerto and reappears, sometimes unexpectedly. Conductor and soloist kept revealing unexpected facets of this rich and hugely enjoyable concerto.
After the interval came Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring which for many years was considered the preserve of a very few top orchestras due to its difficulty. Times have changed, however, and it is now in the repertoire of most professional orchestras and performances seem to be as frequent as, say, Tchaikovsky symphonies. And yet, The Rite remains disturbing, unsettling music. From the mysterious opening bassoon solo to the harshest outbursts of the whole orchestra, it challenges our expectations and batters our senses. Hindoyan shaped the performance into something quite extraordinary. The intense rhythms and fragments of folk-inflected melodies were thrilling and exciting while never losing the ability to shock. An overwhelming performance, with many fine solos leading to Hindoyan generously inviting many solo and sectional bows.
In his recorded introduction to the concert (in lieu of a programme note), Stephen Johnson spoke of the Russian spring coming suddenly and violently, with the ice breaking and nature bursting into life; this encapsulated exactly the feeling of this astonishing music.
