United Kingdom Britten, Shostakovich: Janine Jansen (violin), London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Antonio Pappano (conductor). Barbican Hall, London, 21.9.2025. (JR)
Britten – Violin Concerto, Op.15
Shostakovich – Symphony No.10, Op.93
We are just at the start of the new orchestral season, but already this concert leaps into my list of concert highlights. The partnership between the London Symphony Orchestra and Sir Antonio Pappano simply goes from strength to strength, the rapport between orchestra and conductor is palpable and the quality of playing, across the board, mightily impressive. Warm and rich strings, characterful woodwind, secure brass and fearless and precise percussion.
We started with a piece which is not easy listening or particularly approachable; it is not a happy work. I will admit that the first time I heard it, many years ago, I did not understand it – although I did not know what to expect. I knew much of Britten’s work and this one rather puzzled me. It needed more listening, more performances, probably more age – and suddenly a performance comes along which opens one’s ears and a masterpiece is revealed. This was the case, I suspect for many in the audience, and almost entirely down to the internationally acclaimed soloist, the incomparable Janine Jansen. Jansen did not just play the work, she inhabited it. The concerto is full of extreme technical demands, the instrument is often attacked, Jansen will have had to have her bow re-haired after playing the piece. Although Jansen had a score to hand, she hardly looked at it, the concerto was in her blood. Written in 1938, Britten wrote it as a response to the horrific events of the Spanish Civil War and a prophesy of what was to about to unfold in the rest of Europe from late-1939 onwards.
The opening movement Moderato con moto is melancholy but mesmerising in this violinist’s hands, the intonation often extremely demanding. Pappano accompanied boisterously throughout. The lively and often militaristic second movement (a scherzo) frequently brought the music of Britten’s close friend Shostakovich to mind, in a mood of impending doom. The soloist plays much of the music with harmonics at the very top of the E string and almost runs out of fingerboard. Needless to say, Jansen showed no fear and her stamina and prowess were spectacular. The final Passacaglia allowed the orchestra to show off their grandeur and led to a tumultous climax before the soloist closed the concerto, tenderly, but with an air of foreboding. Particularly during the cadenza, the audience stopped breathing. By the concerto’s close, the audience was stunned into silence for what seemed an eternity until someone was brave enough to start the rapturous applause and cheers – and we were rewarded with a gentle and often-performed encore, the Sarabande from J.S. Bach’s Partita No.2.
Shostakovich is in the LSO’s blood, and such has been the quality of Pappano’s recent concerts with his orchestra that I was not surprised that the Shostakovich was simply spectacular. Pappano punched out every note, but with complete command and understanding for the work as a whole. He often kept the volume down, keeping his powder dry for the frequent almost volcanic explosions of sound which tested our eardrums. The orchestra excelled across all sections, though I must highlight Chris Richards’s clarinet (ably aided and abetted by Sérgio Pires), Juliana Koch (oboe), Gareth Davies (flute) and in particular flawless Diego Incertis Sánchez (horn). The volcanic second movement was furious and thrilling, Pappano going as fast as the orchestra could play.
In the final movement the D-S-C-H motifs were inescapable, finally hammered out by Nigel Thomas on the timpani. The orchestra had a whale of a time – and so did we. The applause went on and on.
John Rhodes
Featured Image: Sir Antonio Pappano conducts the London Symphony Orchestra © Mark Allen