United Kingdom RPO’s Journeys of Discovery: Ecstasy: Javier Perianes (piano), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra / Vasily Petrenko (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, London, 8.2.2023. (KMcD)
Prokofiev – Montagues and Capulets; The young Juliet; Romeo at Juliet’s Tomb (Juliet’s funeral); The death of Tybalt from Romeo and Juliet
Ravel – Piano Concerto in G
Wagner – Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde
Scriabin – Le poème de l’extase, Op.54 (Symphony No.4)
‘What difference does a conductor make?’ It is a question I am often asked by friends of mine, who are not that familiar with the classical musical scene. It is a fair question, and one that I have often asked myself over the years. What makes a conductor great, how does one measure that greatness and what is it that enables them to transform an orchestra? This question kept running through my head at this exceptional concert, given by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra under its enigmatic music director, Vasily Petrenko. For many years the RPO was perceived as the poor relation to the more prestigious London orchestras, but no more so – well, at least on the basis of this superlative evening of music-making.
Appointing Petrenko was not only a shrewd move, given the galvanising effect his leadership had on the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra during his fifteen-year tenure, but also a gamechanger for the orchestra’s standing, increasing its profile almost overnight. I have not heard the RPO for many years, but this concert revealed an orchestra transformed beyond all recognition, delivering four pieces under the umbrella of ‘Ecstasy’ – each of them played with technical precision, exuding a sense of abandonment and feeling.
Whether the two works that made up the first half of the evening perfectly hit the ‘ecstasy brief’ or not is debatable. Petrenko launched the evening with four excerpts from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet – a perennial favourite. Despite its over-familiarity – one could sense a ripple of familiarity cascade through the audience – the opening Montagues and Capulets was lithe, dramatic, and scrupulously well played by all sections of the RPO, ploughing into the main theme’s jaunty rhythms with assurance. A sense of youthful exuberance permeated The Child Juliet, replete with some delicate woodwind playing, whilst the suitably angst-ridden strings mined the emotional depths of Romeo at Juliet’s Tomb. The final excerpt, Death of Tybalt, with those doom-laden blows on the timpani, and defiant tutti chords, was dispatched with pinpoint accuracy and suitable ferocity.
The contrast with the next piece couldn’t have been greater. Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major inhabits an altogether different musical world, with its Bluesy orchestration and jazzy, syncopated rhythms, and makes formidable demands of both orchestra and soloist alike. From the whipcrack of the opening bars the first movement, marked allegramente, positively fizzed along, pianist Javier Perianes dispatching the many glissandi with aplomb. The connection between him, the orchestra and Petrenko was faultless throughout, his interpretive skills shone through in every bar. If his playing in the middle movement was on a less exalted level, with a sense of routine threatening to creep in, he certainly made up for this in a fiercely declaimed finale, complete with scrupulously observed dynamic markings. Petrenko was the perfect accompanist, allowing his soloist to shine without ever needing to dampen the orchestra’s ardour.
Whilst there were many musical pleasures to be had in the first half of this concert, there was a real sense of everything shifting up a gear, with both pieces hitting the bullseye when it came to fulfilling the concert’s ‘Ecstasy’ title. From the hushed opening on the cellos, the sense of sehnsucht (longing) that pervades Wagner’s Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde, was caught perfectly, Petrenko coaxing his players into filling out the German composer’s melodic lines with warmth and feeling. There was a sense of forward propulsion, yet it never sounded hurried, the climaxes seemingly growing organically out of the orchestral textures. In the Liebestod, the sense of abandonment was palpable – the resolution of the ‘Tristan chord’ at last providing the necessary release the music had been leading to from the first bars. That final, perfectly orchestrated chord pulsated with a rare glow, crowning a glorious performance.
The final work on the programme is something of a Petrenko speciality – the recording he made with his Liverpool forces garnered praise from all quarters – but Scriabin’s Poem of Ecstasy needs a careful hand on the tiller, otherwise it can come across as relentless and overblown. Not here. Petrenko has the measure of the work to a tee, guiding his well-oiled orchestra through its myriad mood swings with consummate ease. Not one to linger, he still managed to ensure that every instrumental line came across with clarity, as climax built upon climax. The orchestral playing was quite simply magnificent – the cumulative effect shattering. Every section played out of their skin, but the final word must go to Matthew Williams’s exemplary trumpet playing. He almost has to carry the entire work on his shoulders, yet he ensured that Scriabin’s repetitive, haranguing theme rang out relentlessly, miraculously making every iteration sound fresh and original. Magnificent.
Keith McDonnell