Petrenko and the RPO at full power in Britten, Shostakovich and Walton

By Mark Valencia, 24 March 2022

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“the shock of this discordant violence was defibrillated”

Reviewed at Royal Festival Hall, London on 23 March 2022

Britten, The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Op.34

Shostakovich, Cello Concerto no. 1 in E flat major, Op.107

Walton, Symphony no. 1 in B flat minor

Vasily Petrenko, Conductor

Pablo Ferrández, Cello

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra

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

Charisma and colour from Vasily Petrenko and the Royal Philharmonic

Chris Garlick, 7th September

The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s BBC Proms matinee proves an ideal opportunity to demonstrate their strengths in a programme of Respighi, Milhaud and Vaughan Williams.

****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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Mark Valencia

Mark has worked in arts journalism for four decades, both as a writer and as a French-English translator. Nowadays he focuses his energies on reviewing opera and music. Mark also writes for Opera magazine and for Musical America as a correspondent for Europe and the UK.