This well-attended Saturday evening BBC Philharmonic concert saw Alban Gerhardt plumb the depths of tragedy in Shostakovich’s G major Cello Concerto before a full-blooded account of Richard Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben.
The evening began with the UK premiere of Anna Clyne’s This Moment, a seven-minute tribute to the calligraphy of Buddhist monk Thích Nhất Hạnh, reflecting on his words “This moment is full of wonders”. The short piece is also an acknowledgement of the collective loss associated with the start of the decade, using two moments from Mozart’s Requiem to meditate on grief. The result forms a sort of distorted dream of that piece. Though scored for fairly standard forces including triple woodwind, there was no shortage of special effects, notably including bowed vibraphone in the opening moments. Elsewhere, rich and handsomely balanced wind chords rang out with organ-like neatness, underpinned by a sonorous double-bass sound before the music suddenly dissolves into darkness. This was a hugely enjoyable curtain-raiser and I’ll certainly be listening keenly to Wednesday’s radio broadcast.
The undoubted highlight of the evening, however, was the Shostakovich. Here, Alban Gerhardt combined exquisitely pure character of sound with tragedy that was at times unbearable. With the full stage extension in place, the orchestral forces were more widely spread than is typical, though Alpesh Chauhan did a neat job of guiding orchestra and soloist through the concerto’s more capricious demands. In many places in both tonight’s Shostakovich and Strauss, there are eye-watering solos for orchestral players; the finale of the concerto, in particular, sees huge demands placed on the percussion section. That each was given with such assurance and richness of character was hardly a surprise. Nonetheless, it was Gerhardt’s playing of the first movement’s devastating heartbreak which left the strongest mark. Sadly, it is a rare thing for soloists of his calibre to come to Manchester these days, so it was a joy to hear a few minutes of Rostropovich (the concerto’s dedicatee) as an encore.
After a pause for breath, Strauss’ Ein Heldenleben blew away the post-Stalin storm clouds with all the macho swagger one could hope for. Chief among orchestral soloists here were concertmaster Zoe Beyers and principal horn Christopher Gough (on loan from the RSNO). Both delivered their solos with heroic grandeur and skill. The lusciously lavish orchestral writing was realised with a gleaming glow and the hero’s battle with his critics was suitably monumental. Chauhan paced the dying light of the coda to perfection, the world-weary hero taking his leave from life with quietly stately dignity.
