London Philharmonic/Stanislaw Skrowaczewski RFH 26/10/2012 19:30

[jayne lee wilson]

After last night's wonders from Glasgow a programme one might describe as "Reveries and Passions of Youth"...

Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 in D Minor
Bruckner, orch Skrowaczewski Adagio (String Quintet)
Shostakovich Symphony No.1

Garrick Ohlson is the soloist in the Brahms. Skrowaczewski is still only 89!

(They're coming thick and fast now, so keep the flame alive here on Performance! Next week ain't bad either...)

[Hornspieler]

After last night's wonders from Glasgow a programme one might describe as "Reveries and Passions of Youth"...

Brahms Piano Concerto No.1 in D Minor
Bruckner, orch Skrowaczewski Adagio (String Quintet)
Shostakovich Symphony No.1

Garrick Ohlson is the soloist in the Brahms. Skrowaczewski is still only 87!

(They're coming thick and fast now, so keep the flame alive here on Performance! Next week ain't bad either...)

Tut Tut! Language, Jayne! Really!

HS

[BBMmk2]

He is still going eh? Goodness!Good on him!!the programme llooks alright too!!

[Vile Consort]

Still going? Why not? Francis Jackson is still giving organ recitals at the age of 95!

[jayne lee wilson]

Vivid impressions left by a rugged, almost granitic Brahms D Minor Piano Concerto, and the Bruckner adagio from his String Quintet - the LPO strings sounding as Germanically dark, sweet and full as ever - were swept aside by one of the most remarkable Shostakovich Firsts I've ever heard, live, broadcast or recorded.

Skrowaczewski lent a new stature to this symphony, broadening and deepening the musical argument, both through subtle variation of tempo and a refusal to dash headlong into its climaxes. He never let any expressive detail pass without making its full effect. The longer violin and cello solos were especially eloquent, a lamenting prophecy of the suffering that lay ahead for Shostakovich and so many others. The maestro encouraged a greater weight and breadth of tone than we usually hear in the climaxes of this symphony, which is often given a rather fleet, snarling, even waspish character. Well, not here. Our 89-year- old hero presented it as a fully achieved tragic masterpiece. (But how on earth did an 18-year-old DSCH achieve it?)

The epic struggles of the Brahms concerto's outer movements did seem rather hard work at times, with Ohlsson's pianism just a shade stiff and monumental, even a little anonymous in the lengthier paragraphs; but the great adagio was a heartfelt release, sung out passionately, truly an eleison for his friend Schumann.
Conductor and orchestra matched their soloist's craggy, monumental approach with a massive, rough-hewn view of the work's peaks; again, one might have wished for a little more lyricism in softer passages, but the direction of the performance was sure and consistent, with great impact. That opening timpani roll really made me jump!

The Bruckner Adagio looked a makeweight; not in this performance, an offering of benign calm to those psychological dramas on either side.

The R3 sound on HD-hi was as fine as usual, conveying clearly the varying orchestral palette the orchestra developed for each piece.
One oddity - a persistent rumble, audible during the performance on several occasions. Kingsway Hall was infamously (and on record, audibly) subject to such Cageian realities, but the RFH?

[BBMmk2]

I felt that the Bruckner Adagio could have come from one of his symphonies?

[Hornspieler]

Vivid impressions left by a rugged, almost granitic Brahms D Minor Piano Concerto, and the Bruckner adagio from his String Quintet - the LPO strings sounding as Germanically dark, sweet and full as ever - were swept aside by one of the most remarkable Shostakovich Firsts I've ever heard, live, broadcast or recorded.

Skrowaczewski lent a new stature to this symphony, broadening and deepening the musical argument, both through subtle variation of tempo and a refusal to dash headlong into its climaxes. He never let any expressive detail pass without making its full effect. The longer violin and cello solos were especially eloquent, a lamenting prophecy of the suffering that lay ahead for Shostakovich and so many others. The maestro encouraged a greater weight and breadth of tone than we usually hear in the climaxes of this symphony, which is often given a rather fleet, snarling, even waspish character. Well, not here. Our 89-year- old hero presented it as a fully achieved tragic masterpiece. (But how on earth did an 18-year-old DSCH achieve it?)

The epic struggles of the Brahms concerto's outer movements did seem rather hard work at times, with Ohlsson's pianism just a shade stiff and monumental, even a little anonymous in the lengthier paragraphs; but the great adagio was a heartfelt release, sung out passionately, truly an eleison for his friend Schumann.
Conductor and orchestra matched their soloist's craggy, monumental approach with a massive, rough-hewn view of the work's peaks; again, one might have wished for a little more lyricism in softer passages, but the direction of the performance was sure and consistent, with great impact. That opening timpani roll really made me jump!

The Bruckner Adagio looked a makeweight; not in this performance, an offering of benign calm to those psychological dramas on either side.

The R3 sound on HD-hi was as fine as usual, conveying clearly the varying orchestral palette the orchestra developed for each piece.
One oddity - a persistent rumble, audible during the performance on several occasions. Kingsway Hall was infamously (and on record, audibly) subject to such Cageian realities, but the RFH?

A most satisfying evening's listening, Jayne, and I think we are agreed on almost all points ; so I have quoted your post in full.

Yes, a couple of slight fingering mishaps in the concerto but, overall, it was a majestic and telling performance by both soloists and orchestra.
Full marks to the third horn, whose solos are far more difficult than those played by his section leader.

The Shostakovitch was splendidly played and exciting to the end. I was delighted that the clarinettist, Nick Carpenter received a special mention. Nick is the son of my long term friend and colleague Raymond Carpenter, principal clarinet in the Bournemouth Symphony orchestra for his entire career, who this year celebrated his 90th birthday. (makes me feel like a schoolboy)

I'm afraid that the Bruckner piece did nothing for me, Jayne - except to make me feel "Let's get on with the Shostakovitch."

I welcomed the "clean" sound of the RFH after those weeks of Albert Hall shuffling and coughing (and spurious applause). I'm not exactly enamoured of the Barbican acoustics (as heard on radio) either.

Well worth a visit on iPlayer for those who did not hear it last night.

HS