A pair of Sixth Symphonies were the focus for this intriguing programme of interwar works, demonstrating the strengths and weaknesses of the Philharmonia’s Principal Conductor, Santtu-Mathias Rouvali. Their performance of the elusive Symphony no. 6 in D minor by Sibelius completely missed the mark, while the two Shostakovich works that followed were thrilling and vibrant.
Sibelius’ Sixth is perhaps his most delicately nuanced symphonic work and one of the hardest to bring off. It has a deceptively pastoral purity and the conductor's job is to make it all flow like a clear mountain stream. It’s depth of feeling comes from effortless mystery but, in this performance, Rouvali managed to completely miss the point. Instead of self-effacing simplicity of expression, everything was exaggerated, from misjudged slow tempi to odd dynamics and eccentric balances within textures. The Philharmonia seemed less disciplined than normal, with some messy woodwind and string playing, as if they weren’t confident with the direction they were being taken.
They were on safer territory with Shostakovich's Piano Concerto no. 1 for piano, trumpet and strings with the exemplary Seong-Jin Cho on excellent form. The wonderful massed strings of the Philharmonia were rich and pliable and Principal Trumpet Jason Evans was outstandingly incisive in the outer movements and jazzily responsive in the Lento. Rouvali allowed the music to speak for itself and the naughty-boy mayhem came to together splendidly. Cho was inevitably the star of the show, his combination of lightning fast fingerwork and sweet delicacy a winning formula, if lacking the last ounce of devil-may-care in the finale.
Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 6 in B minor is something of enigma, sitting as it does between the restorative Fifth and the patriotic, war-torn Leningrad. The Sixth can seem neither here nor there compared to these iconic works, but nevertheless, in an arresting performance, it packs a punch of a more ambivalent kind.
The long Largo that opens proceedings is like a cloud that refuses to allow the sun to come through. The tempo that conductors adopt for this movement can vary significantly, some nearly 20 minutes, while others under 15; this changes the atmosphere of the whole work. Here Rouvali took the faster option, moving the music along impressively, but not developing the claustrophobic atmosphere that can emerge given more time. This approach certainly helps make sense of the remaining two short fast movements, which can make little sense after what has gone before. Rouvali was good in finding an edge to this fast music, helped by fantastic playing from the woodwind and brass, and the central climax in the Allegro had a wildness reminiscent of the frowned upon Fourth Symphony. The Presto was a tour de force of virtuosic playing, finding extra weight and drama in its final gesture of defiance. In these full blown moments, the Philharmonia's sound was at its most impressively rounded and full.
