Music that makes the flesh creep: Kochanovsky's powerful Prokofiev 6

By Alexander Hall, 21 April 2023

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“Kochanovsky lifted a dark veil to expose yet more darkness within”

Reviewed at Elbphilharmonie: Grand Hall, Hamburg on 20 April 2023

Kodály, Concerto for Orchestra

Poulenc, Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra in D minor, FP 61

Roma, Strausseinander

Prokofiev, Symphony no. 6 in E flat minor, Op.111

Arthur Jussen, Piano

Lucas Jussen, Piano

NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester

Stanislav Kochanovsky, Conductor

Bychkov's uneven Mahler 8 at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 11th April

Doing justice to the vast scale of Mahler's "Symphony of a Thousand" is itself the mightiest of tasks. Semyon Bychkov and his NDR forces only partially succeed.

***11

A searingly powerful Duke Bluebeard's Castle at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 9th February

Alan Gilbert and his NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester partner first Igor Levit, and then Michelle DeYoung and Gerald Finley, in a night of outstanding music-making devoted to the music of Bartók.

*****

Two Sergeis with Vinnitskaya and Valčuha at the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 14th September

Rachmaninov and Prokofiev not only shared a first name. In their individual ways they helped define Russianness too. Anna Vinnitskaya, Juraj Valčuha and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester are here the exponents.

***11

Operatic Wagner and symphonic Shostakovich in the Elbphilharmonie

Alexander Hall, 15th September

Conducting the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester, the Latvian Andris Poga reveals a surer hand in Shostakovich's final symphonic statement than in the partnering of Nina Stemme in Wagner, where her big voice often missed the essential intimacy.

***11

Death and what comes after: Alan Gilbert's Mahler 2 in Hamburg

Alexander Hall, 2nd September

Opening the new season, Alan Gilbert and the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester send out a clear message in Mahler's Second Symphony, both lyrically shaped and dramatically inflected.

****1

Impressions of Suffolk, Andalusia and the Rhineland in Hamburg

Alexander Hall, 12th May

Robert Louis Stevenson was clear in the advice he gave: “It is better to travel hopefully than to arrive.” Pablo Heras-Casado, Bertrand Chamayou and the house orchestra of the Elbphilharmonie embark on musical journeys, but with mixed results.

**111

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Alexander Hall

Alexander Hall divides his time between London and Hamburg, where he had a career in academic administration and teaching. He reviews for Bachtrack and Opera Today, and has also reviewed for Classical Source. A connoisseur of the great orchestras of the world, his musical memories stretch back to Karajan/Berlin Phil, Mravinsky/Leningrad Phil, Bernstein/Vienna Phil, and he has seen most of the great conductors from the past, including Böhm, Klemperer, Kubelik, Ormandy and Szell.

Music that makes the flesh creep: Kochanovsky's powerful Prokofiev 6 in Hamburg