Positive energy and spirit bring the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra's season to a close

Joanna MacGregor (piano/director)

Ruth Rogers (violin)

Peter Adams (cello)

Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra

2.45pm, Sunday 26 March 2023

Brighton Dome

★★★★

Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Adagio for Strings

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): 

Triple Concerto in C major, Op. 56

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E flat major, Op. 73, 'Emperor'

The Brighton Philharmonic, under their Music Director Joanna MacGregor, brought their season to a highly successful close before an almost full house at the Brighton Dome. Their performances, full of energy and spirit, were warmly received, and it was great to see the Dome so full on a Sunday afternoon. It would appear that, having recently managed to sell out on a Saturday night, they are managing to add some newly acquired audience members to the faithful regulars in their traditional slot, and long may this continue. 

The repertoire was perhaps less adventurous than in their Glass/Rautavaara Saturday night programme (my review here), although including not one but two Beethoven Concerti was a brave choice. The Triple Concerto (for violin, cello and piano) is less performed than the Piano Concerto No. 5, ‘Emperor’, however, and was more likely to be new to listeners. It is a challenging work, not least in terms of achieving the right balance between the three solo instruments, and with the orchestra. The two string soloists were Ruth Rogers on violin, completing her first season as BPO Leader, Peter Adams on cello, Prinicipal Cello with the BPO for many years now, and Joanna MacGregor directed proceedings from the piano. She also directed the Piano Concerto from the keyboard. This is certainly doable, but a brave choice – the benefits were certainly a greater level of engagement and energy with her fellow soloists and with the orchestra, but it is a tall order to maintain focus on the solo role whilst quickly shifting into conducting mode, and occasionally the joins were visible. In both concerti, the leaders (Co-leader Nicky Sweeney in the Triple, Ruth Rogers in the Emperor) took on some conducting too whilst MacGregor was otherwise engaged in solo passages – again, this led to a few untidy joins as the baton was figuratively passed to and fro.

 

But they began with a more reflective opener for strings alone – Barber’s Adagio for Strings, directed by the concert’s first-half leader Nicky Sweeney. Chosen as a contemplative reflection on the BPO’s journey, post-Covid, ‘Towards the Light’, it certainly provided a contrast to the lively, more triumphant Beethoven works that followed. Sweeney directed with a steady, even tempo, certainly not on the slow side, and they opened with some beautifully pianissimo playing. It is a difficult piece to coordinate, as the phrases are long and entries by one instrument at a time need to be precise, so a solid tempo helped here. As the piece developed and became more expressive, it was harder to maintain quite such a regular tempo, and occasionally entries became a little less tight, particularly as they built towards the searing climax. The string blend took a while to settle in, with the violas faring better than the violins initially. But altogether, they gave an atmospheric reading, leading up well to the explosions of energy to follow that the Beethoven would deliver.

 

Ruth Rogers, Peter Adams, Joanna MacGregor
and the BPO
© Nick Boston

In the Triple Concerto, Peter Adams managed well the challenges of the cello part, the most virtuosic of the three solo parts. In order to ensure the cello cuts through the balance, Beethoven writes a lot in the instrument’s highest registers, and apart from perhaps at the join between the second and third movements, Adams was secure, and the warmth of his tone was a delight in the more lyrical moments, particularly in the slow movement. Rogers matched Adams well in response, with a singing tone, and injecting much-needed additional energy into the Rondo, which otherwise occasionally lost momentum. MacGregor did a great job of keeping the orchestra at bay to allow the soloists to come through, and delivered energy as well as warmth in the piano part. The woodwind players from the BPO were particularly nimble in the finale, and the orchestral martial cadences in the first movement had a lively bite.

The orchestra delivered some of their finest playing of the afternoon in the 'Emperor' Concerto, with tight orchestral ensemble in the opening movement, and again lithe woodwind playing, especially from the bassoons. The strings produced their warmest sound in the slow movement, definitely the highlight of the performance, with some beautifully quiet yet fluid playing from MacGregor too. Despite some inaccuracies, the finale had spirit, and brought the afternoon to a rousing finish. 

All in all, this was a joyfully positive afternoon of music making, and a sign of great things to come, as the BPO under Joanna MacGregor’s direction build towards their centenary in 2025.