On a bright spring evening in Dublin, the National Symphony Orchestra offered a programme that traversed vast emotional and geographical terrain, from the icy stillness of a contemporary Ukrainian symphony to the roiling Nordic waters of Sibelius and the sardonic fireworks of Shostakovich. With conductor John Storgårds at the helm and guest soloist Yukine Kuroki — a rising star and former Dublin International Piano Competition laureate — centre stage, the evening promised depth, contrast and drama. It delivered on all three.
Sibelius’ tone poem The Oceanides remains a masterclass in atmosphere, evoking the sea’s ceaseless transformations from tranquil swell to tempestuous fury. Under the distinguished baton of Storgårds, a noted Sibelius interpreter, the NSO gave a shimmering and evocative performance. The quietly ominous murmur of timpani lent an undercurrent of tension to the serene opening string theme, answered by the gentle coaxing of the flute, suggestive of a spring tide awakening. Storgårds revealed the full spectrum of Sibelius’ subtle orchestration. Tremolando strings rippled like wavelets, the harp adding a glistening, almost translucent sheen. The low, brooding timpani re-emerged as a harbinger of the storm to come. In the final minutes, Storgårds masterfully sculpted the inexorable build in tension and dynamics, drawing the audience into the swirling climactic vortex.
With the Dublin International Piano Competition commencing today, the 2022 winner Yukine Kuroki returned to the Irish stage, this time in a dazzling traversal of Rachmaninov’s Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini. From the dry wit of the opening bare fifths, crisply delineated by the NSO, to the breathless close, Kuroki’s performance was a display of poised virtuosity and crystalline control. Her restrained use of pedal allowed Rachmaninov’s intricate filigree writing to emerge with spine-tingling clarity.
The interplay between soloist and orchestra was charged with energy: an electric call-and-response that grew ever more dynamic through muscular accents and pointed contrasts. Kuroki navigated the stylistic shifts, from jazzy languor to mischievous sparkle, with ease, her playing always alert to character and colour. The famed Variation 18 was played with heartfelt romantic warmth, while the final section’s blistering double octaves and ironic snap of an ending were delivered with impeccable timing and bravura.
Opening the second half was Victoria Polevá’s Symphony no. 3 “White Interment”, a meditation on snow; the choice of such austere material in the middle of radiant spring sunshine feeling curiously out of step. Based on the poem Now Always Snow by Gennadiy Aygi, Polevá’s work is a sparse, meditative tapestry of long-held drones and glacial melodic shifts. It hovers somewhere between ambient minimalism and chant, though more spa muzak than spiritual revelation. Yet Storgårds shaped its austere dynamics with patience and precision, teasing out subtle swells and textures.
The evening concluded with Shostakovich’s Symphony no. 1 in F minor, a youthful firecracker laced with sardonic wit and moments of striking pathos. Storgårds leaned into the composer’s theatrical flourishes: raucous marches, gleaming brass volleys, sly trumpet asides. The Scherzo bristled with energy, scurrying strings and biting accents driving it forward. The slow movement’s oboe solo, plaintive and tender, floated over a bed of richly romantic harmony. In the finale, Storgårds deftly marshalled contrasts, from a tension-laced timpani solo to the thrilling propulsion of strings, culminating in exuberant, decisive closing chords.
