United Kingdom Sibelius, Mozart and Tchaikovsky: Benjamin Grosvenor (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra / Andrey Boreyko (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, London, 29.1.2025. (CSa)
Sibelius – En Saga, a symphonic poem for orchestra, Op.9
Mozart – Piano Concerto No.21 in C major, K467
Tchaikovsky – Symphony No.4 in F minor, Op.36
Unexpected illness resulted in the late substitution of the Russo-Polish conductor Andrey Boreyko for Russo-Greek conductor Karina Canellakis and a change in the second part of the originally published programme by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. We were to have heard Lemminkäinen, the mythic four tone poem suite by Jean Sibelius. In its place, under Boreyko’s elegantly wielded baton, we were treated to a passionate and sumptuous reading of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4. Those who yearned for the brooding, bleak sound world of Sibelius, were not disappointed. His musical fairy tale Ein Saga heralded a suitably wintry opening to the first part of the concert. The dark, pungent woodwinds and shimmering strings of the LPO immediately conjured the frozen north while flourishes from brass and flute pierced the Nordic grey sky with sudden shafts of light. Violas and cellos and singing horns breathed much-needed warmth and rose to a furious climax before Benjamin Mellfont’s tender clarinet led us back to the solitary, snowy tundra.
Ben Grosvenor’s exceptionally graceful account of Mozart’s Piano Concerto No.21 formed the centre piece of the evening and took us far from Sibelius’s icy early-twentieth century wilderness to eighteenth-century Vienna, and the reason and order of the Enlightenment. Completed in 1785, the concerto became universally known by the moniker Elvira Madigan – after the slow movement Andante featured in a 1967 film of the same name. Grosvenor’s understated lightness of touch permeated the LPO’s magisterial opening – a grand Allegro maestoso. The famous Andante flowed with exquisite delicacy, and Grosvenor’s subtly phrased rendition in the final rondo Allegro vivaci assai cascaded like a waterfall sparkling in sunshine. A standing ovation was rewarded with a delightful encore: Bach’s Prelude in B minor arranged by Alexander Siloti.
Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No.4, with its rapid and exaggerated changes of mood was the sole item after the interval. Written as Tchaikovsky embarked on his disastrous relationship with Madame Nadezhda von Meck, the symphony reflected his labile state of mind. Boreyko and his players were in their element as they delved deep into the emotional complexities of this wonderful work. From the opening bars of the first movement – a chilling brass fanfare introduction followed by the main section, all plunging strings and finely articulated clarinets, flutes and piccolo – conductor and orchestra together exposed the symphony’s pervasive moods of anxiety and despair. The inner movements were equally convincing. Tom Blomfield’s melancholy oboe rose up, grief-stricken in the Andantino, while woodwinds and muted brass skilfully combined with pizzicato strings in an exceptionally delicate Scherzo. All sections contributed to a rip-roaring but finely balanced final Allegro, and under Boryeko’s well-paced expressive direction, brought Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece to a thrilling conclusion.
Chris Sallon