Charisma and colour from Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic

Vasily Petrenko conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Arabella Steinbacher

By Chris Garlick, 07 September 2025

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“with the atmosphere of Bloomsbury Square in foggy November evoked”

Reviewed at Royal Albert Hall, London on 7 September 2025

Respighi, Pini di Roma (Pines of Rome)

Milhaud, Le Bœuf sur le toit (The Ox on the Roof), Op.58 (version for violin and orchestra)

Vaughan Williams, Symphony no. 2 “A London Symphony”

Arabella Steinbacher, Violin

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

Vasily Petrenko, Conductor

Korngold and Mahler from Ray Chen, Vasily Petrenko and the RPO

Roy Westbrook, 12th May

Few violin concertos soar from the first bar as Erich Korngold’s does, especially as in Ray Chen's high-wire account at the Royal Albert Hall.

****1

Turangalîla underwhelms at the Southbank’s Multitudes festival

Roy Westbrook, 23rd April

Serious music ill-matched by filmic limitations as the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra tackles Messiaen’s epic “symphony” as part of the Southbank’s cross-genre festival.

**111

Edusei’s Beethoven and Rangwanasha’s Strauss thrill at Cadogan Hall

Christopher Woodley, 26th February

Kevin John Edusei, Masabane Cecilia Rangwanasha and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra celebrate the joys of a life well-lived – rounded off to the sounds of larks ascending.

****1

Petrenko’s searing Shostakovich overshadows Grosvenor’s Beethoven

Nick Boston, 3rd February

Stylish Beethoven from Benjamin Grosvenor and dramatic Ustvolskaya from Yuriy Yurchuk, but Petrenko and the RPO’s blistering Shostakovich steals the show.

****1

Perception-altering Shostakovich from Serebrennikov and Petrenko

Mark Pullinger, 27th April

As part of the Southbank Centre's Multitudes festival, Shostakovich's Leningrad Symphony is given a stunning visual direction by Kirill Serebrennikov to match the RPO's gripping playing.

*****

A trio of exiled composers: Petrenko and the RPO at the RFH

David Truslove, 23rd March

Assured performances from the RPO as part of its ongoing “Lights in the Dark” series that brought career correspondences between three markedly different composers.

****1

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Chris Garlick

Chris Garlick is the co-founder of Signal Gallery in Hoxton. His first degree was in music, training as a classical composer. Chris has written about art frequently in Art of England magazine, Artist and Illustrator for online blogs.

Charisma and colour from Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic at the Proms