Music / Classical
Review: London Symphony Orchestra, Colston Hall
The world-class London Symphony Orchestra treated Bristol to a rare performance of astoundingly brilliant music in an evening suffused with emotion.
Brahms’ Violin Concerto is a moody, complex, demanding work that Lionel Bringuier deftly shaped into something quite extraordinary. The frenzied passage-work of soloist Alina Ibragimova was coaxed into cohabitation with the rich warmth of the strings, each jarring change of emotion beautifully controlled.
Ibragimova played with passion, tenderness and angst in equal measure – aside from losing distinction at the upper register of her virtuosic passages, the violinist performed with exquisite sentistivity: the tiniest notes held floating in the air; ethereal double stopping that raised hairs as well as eyebrows; a sense of desperate melancholy turned to the sublime.
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The LSO, although wonderful in the Brahms, came into their own in the second half. The surprising highlight of the night was Dutilleux’s Metaboles, a modernist concerto for orchestra that had the ensemble clashing in harmony, time and texture. The fluidity of the woodwind combined with the underlying menace of the double basses kept the auditorium taut with tension.
Bringuier directed every beat of every part to the tiniest detail: the result was a piece full of emotion, exquisitely controlled, and completely consuming in its stark, chaotic beauty. It was magnificent, on par only with the Ravel that followed: the final chord barely faded before the cheers began, raucous and demanding.
The classic favourite, Daphnis and Chloe Suite No. 2, in 20 minutes of condensed, raw emotional beauty, was so much more than a simple dance of love. Again, Bringuier had every moment of the orchestra’s attention, and the result was an engaged and intense performance. Adam Walker‘s rendition of the famous flute solo was quite simply stunning. The sweeping beauty of the piece was all but forgotten in the final moments: a desperate urgency that blazed through Colston Hall, sweeping with power and determination and finally, unthinkably ending in a clash of flames.
Sumptuous in their portrayal of some of classical music’s best loved works, the LSO proved beyond doubt that they deserve their place amongst the leaders of classical music. A night to remember, a night of glory, a night of utterly transformative music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkHrjuJK9j4
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