Convincing MacMillan from Benedetti contrasts with Noseda's full-on Shostakovich

Nicola Benedetti & the London Symphony Orchestra
© LSO/Mark Allan

Gianandrea Noseda (conductor)

Nicola Benedetti (violin)

London Symphony Orchestra

7pm, Thursday 3 April 2025

Barbican Hall, London

★★★★

Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975): Festive Overture, Op. 96

James MacMillan (b.1959): Violin Concerto No. 2

Shostakovich: Symphony No. 12 in D minor, Op. 112, 'The Year 1917'

Festive Overture:

'Noseda took the LSO through a tight and spirited rendition, with strong articulation from the strings in particular'.

Gianandrea Noseda conducts the London Symphony Orchestra
© LSO/Mark Allan

MacMillan:

'There’s a particularly aggressive central solo, where Benedetti didn’t hold back on, producing lots of extra ‘noise’ from the bow and wood of the instrument, and she also mesmerised with rapid minimalist repetitions, as well as rising trills at the opening'.

'... towards the end MacMillan’s master stroke, a series of duets between the soloist and different instruments, started playfully with the double bass and ended with a sweet duet with the leader'.

Symphony No. 12:

'There was a relentlessness to the sheer intensity and volume here, but Noseda and the orchestra kept us with them by fully exploiting the moments of ‘downtime’, few and far between though they are'.

'That full-on finish, a feat of stamina for all involved, was indeed electric, but within that, Noseda still managed to shape some of the final surges, almost running forward to the edge of the podium and back'. 

Read my review on Bachtrack here.

Evocative Beamish and commanding Prokofiev from Noseda and the LSO

Sally Beamish, Martin Fröst, Janine Jansen & Gianandrea Noseda
© Mark Allan

Janine Jansen (violin)

Martin Fröst (clarinet)

London Symphony Orchestra

Gianandrea Noseda (conductor)

7pm, Thursday 20 June 2024

Barbican Hall, London

★★★★

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827): Overture: Leonore No. 3, Op. 72b

Sally Beamish (b.1956): Distans: Double Concerto for Violin & Clarinet

Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953): Symphony No. 7 in C sharp minor, Op. 131

Martin Fröst, Janine Janse & Gianandrea Noseda
© Mark Allan

Beethoven:

'Lively woodwind and precise skittering strings demonstrated the LSO’s expert ensemble'.

Beamish:

'Following more virtuosic skirmishes from the highly mobile and animated soloists, and droning strings evoking the nyckelharpa, complex, jerky rhythms abounded, with Noseda keeping a tight rein'. 

'The highly expansive second movement conjured up open landscape, distance and longing, with birdlike flourishes from the soloists and bell-like percussion'.

Gianandrea Noseda conducts the LSO
© Mark Allan

Prokofiev:

'Noseda had a strong command throughout here, and from the opening angular violin theme, with cellos responding in kind, through to woodwind solos in the third movement’s relentless melodic line, orchestral precision was impressive'.

'... an emphatically commanding performance from Noseda and the LSO to end a highly engaging concert'.

Read my full review on Bachtrack here.

CD Reviews - July 2014

I’ve been following the recordings of French pianist, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet with great interest over the last few years.  His complete Ravel and Debussy sets were revelatory – and award winning too.  I also enjoyed the treat of him performing the Ravel Piano Concerto in G major with the Philharmonia Orchestra in the Brighton Festival this year.  But he’s showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that French pianist doesn’t just mean French repertoire.  Regular readers will know that he is part way through two major cycles of Haydn and Beethoven Sonatas, and the Haydn cycle in particular is proving to be a landmark set.  So it will come as no great surprise that his latest set of the five Prokofiev Piano Concertos, with Gianandrea Noseda and the BBC Philharmonic, is also a real gem.  The Concertos were written by Prokofiev to be performed by himself, apart from the Fourth, for left hand only, which he composed for Paul Wittgenstein.  Wittgenstein rejected the work and it was not performed until after Prokofiev’s death.  The five works amply demonstrate the changes in Prokofiev’s style, from youthful excitement, through neo-classicism, to his weightier, late ‘Soviet’ style.  The Piano Concerto No. 1, Op. 10 is the shortest work, at just over fifteen minutes, but Prokofiev packs energy and spark into its three short sections.  The Piano Concerto No. 2, Op. 16 in contrast is the longest and is a mammoth challenge, with a notoriously difficult cadenza in the first movement, which Bavouzet makes sound effortless.  After a whirlwind Scherzo, the Intermezzo follows with its dark and disturbingly relentless procession, and Bavouzet and the BBC Philharmonic, relish this.  The Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 26 is probably the best known and most often performed, and is another barnstormer, with a real crowd-pleasing finale, which once again Bavouzet dashes off with aplomb.  Yet he shows real restraint in the middle movement’s variations, which benefit from his cool and precise approach.  The Piano Concerto No. 4, Op. 53 is a tricky work, but it has a beautifully affecting slow movement, played here with great sensitivity.  In a programme note from Bavouzet himself, he reveals that in the 1990s he suffered with functional dystonia, affecting his right hand, and it was only through extensive physiotherapy over two years that his ability in the right hand was restored.  So perhaps the Fourth has particular resonance for him.  The final Piano Concerto No. 5, Op. 55 is full of sarcasm and modernism, yet even here, Prokofiev includes a tender lullaby slow movement, before a spirited ride to the finish.  These are wonderful performances, and unlike many cycles, there is much to be gained from listening to these rich and varied concertos back to back – you won’t be disappointed.

Prokofiev, S. 2014. Piano Concertos Nos. 1-5. Jean-Efflam Bavouzet, BBC Philharmonic, Gianandrea Noseda. Compact Discs (2). Chandos CHAN 10802(2).

Next, a disc of New World Quartets by the Brodsky Quartet – well, Dvořák’s String Quartet Op. 96, ‘The American’ is the obvious starting place.  And Samuel Barber’s (1910-1981) String Quartet, Op. 11, with it’s famous slow movement, later orchestrated by Barber as the Adagio for Strings (also arranged by the composer for unaccompanied chorus too) makes sense too.  But the Brodsky Quartet fill out the disk with some interesting companions.  There are Two Pieces by Aaron Copland (1900-1990), as well as an arrangement by husband and wife Paul Cassidy (viola) and Jacqueline Thomas (cello) of Copland’s Hoe-Down from the ballet Rodeo. George Gershwin’s (1898-1937) Lullaby for String Quartet gets an airing, and the disc ends with a rather beautiful piece, Regret, by Dave Brubeck (1920-2012), arranged especially for the Brodsky Quartet by the composer. Perhaps given the choice of repertoire here, the Brodsky’s playing throughout has a laid back, languid warmth, like a chocolate dessert.  Tempos are on the slow side (particularly in the Adagio of the Barber), and I do miss an element of drive and energy in the last movement of the Dvořák.  However, they bring a touching sensitivity to the themes in the first movement, and the slow movement has suitable pathos.  The outer movements of the Barber have a taut intensity, and the Brodskys are highly convincing, but their Adagio, stretched almost to the limits of not collapsing under its own weight, rather pulls focus from the rest of the work. Their performance of the Gershwin Lullaby is again very slow, but it has a captivating, rather louche feel to it.  Written as a harmony exercise for his teacher, Edward Kilenyi, the piece was forgotten until it was published in 1968.  The Brodsky’s take here lifts it from a mere novelty to a rather enchanting confection.  I have to confess here to a personal aversion to Copland’s Rodeo, which I find too self-consciously ‘folksy’.  However, the Brodskys’ arrangement here is faithful to the original, and performed with great spark.  I much prefer the Two Pieces by Copland, a brightly rhythmic Rondino, preceded by a darker Lento molto, and the Brodskys give them great character and intensity.  The closing Regret by Brubeck is an emotional piece, full of sadness in its falling chromatic lines.  Overall, I would say these are performances that I would love to hear live – the risks the Brodskys take with tempi, and their immediate and engaging style communicate well, but on repeated listening, without the energy of live performance, their laid back approach is not so sustainable.

Various. 2014. New World Quartets. Brodsky Quartet. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10801.

(Edited versions of these reviews first appeared in GScene, July 2014)

Selected CD Reviews

Here are a few recent CD reviews, also published in my column in GScene magazine.

First of all, a simply delightful disc of encore pieces, ‘Petits-fours’ from the great Brodsky Quartet. I had the great pleasure (with Brighton Festival Chorus) to perform with the Brodskys in Tarik O’Regan’s beautiful Ecstasies Above, but the highlight of that concert for me was actually their performance of the amazing Tenebrae by Osvaldo Golijov (b.1960). The 21 works on this disc are by definition less substantial (the longest is just over 5 minutes), yet no less impressive. They are all arranged for string quartet, mostly by the violist Paul Cassidy, or the quartet’s former leader, Andrew Haveron. Highlights for me are ‘Blues’ by Ravel (from his violin sonata), Shostakovich’s Waltz No. 2 (in which they are joined by Philip Edward Fisher on piano) and old favourites like Elgar’s Chanson de nuit and Dvořák’s Humoresque. They perform throughout with a great sense of enjoyment, entirely appropriate as this release celebrates their 40th birthday – many happy returns!

Various. Petits-Fours: Favourite Encores. Brodsky Quartet. 2012. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10708

Dimitry Shostakovich’s (1906-1975) Cello Concerto No. 1 came 6 years after his 10^th Symphony, and coincided with the end of his second marriage, as well as the onset of motor neurone disease.  The work is full of deep and dark emotion, building to a wild finale, with considerable challenges for the cellist.  The Cello Concerto No. 2 followed some 7 years later, and like the first, was dedicated to the great cellist Rostrapovich.  It is another dark work, with even less relief than the first – the finale is particularly bleak.  The Italian cellist Enrico Dindo is technically on top of these demanding works, and in particular, takes the first concerto’s first movement at a cracking pace.  At times, this technical command masks the necessary depth of emotion needed, but overall these are sound performances.  Gianandrea Noseda extracts appropriate caustic playing from the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and the wind players in particular.

Shostakovich, Dmitry. Cello Concertos Nos. 1 and 2. Enrico Dindo, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, Gianandrea Noseda. 2012. Hybrid Super Audio Compact Disc. Chandos CHSA 5093.

The Trio D’Ante Vienna are an all-female piano trio formed in 2003.  On their latest CD, progress chronologically through works by Chopin, Liszt, Rachmaninov and Shostakovich.  The Chopin Piano Trio Op. 8 is his only work for the combination, yet is quite a substantial work of about 30 minutes in length.  An early student work, it is clearly not as inspired as his piano repertoire.  Yet there are some pleasing melodies here, and considerably more interest in the piano part (which Chopin himself almost certainly played).  This is followed by Tristia – La vallée d’Obermann by Liszt.  A pianist composer like Chopin, he also didn’t compose much chamber music, and this is actually a recomposition by the composer of a piano pieces (from the Années de Pèlerinage).  Unlike the happier Chopin piece, it is quite anguished, and the Trio D’Ante explore its depths well here. They follow with Rachmaninov’s ‘Trio Elégiaque’ No. 1, another one-movement piece, which the young eighteen-year-old composed, inspired by Tchaikovsky’s A minor Trio from 10 years earlier.  The inspiration is clear, yet Rachmaninov also demonstrates his pianistic virtuosity in the writing for the instrument.  The Trio D’Ante close their programme with Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 1, again a single movement work.  An early student work, it has the composer’s trademark wit, without some of the darker, depressive tendencies of his mature output.  This is an enjoyable programme, and the Trio D’Ante perform with feeling and restrained command of the repertoire. 

Various. Chopin - Liszt - Rachmaninoff - Schostakowitsch. Trio D'Ante Vienna. 2011. Compact Disc. Gramola 98934.

The clarinetist Michael Collins also conducts the City of London Sinfonia on his latest disc of Concertante works by Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826).  He includes the two Concertos, the Concertino, and also the Concertino for Horn and Orchestra (with Stephen Stirling on the horn).  These are largely joyous works, composed for the great clarinetist Heinrich Bärmann.  In fact, Michael Collins performs the works incorporating the many embellishments and ornaments that Bärmann made and which survive in his annotated copies of the works.  Yet these works have more than just technical showmanship – in fact Weber also writes some gloriously lyrical music, particularly in the slow movements, and also produces moments of dark drama, for example in the first Concerto.  Collins manages to combine the technical requirements with still producing a beautiful tone in the more lyrical passages, and also commands solid playing from the orchestra.  Stirling is equally impressive in the horn Concertino, not least in the demanding cadenza, which requires ‘horn chords’, where more than one note are produced simultaneously – an eery effect.  Overall, a compressive collection, all excellently performed.

Weber, Carl Maria von. Concertante Works for Clarinet and Horn. Michael Collins, Stephen Stirling, City of London Sinfonia. 2012. Compact Disc. Chandos CHAN 10702.