The London Philharmonic last night played works by Saariaho, Prokofiev and Nielsen at the Royal Festival Hall. The conductor was the underrated Finn Hannu Lintu and the soloist was Alina Ibragimova.
If any European orchestra had offered this star-free programme to Carnegie Hall or Lincoln Center, they’d have been called ‘pathetic’ on the Signal messaging app and denied entry to the US. Such is the ocean that now separates us.
Saariaho’s Orion, premiered in Cleveland in 2003, is a post-Holstian reconceptian of the planets through a prism of Greek myths and Musk-funded space walks. It feels intensely contemporary, of this moment, a way of reconfiguring humanity among celestial bodies that become more reachable with every passing year. Musically, it is as captivating as the aurora borealis, with harps, piano and Royal Festival Hall organ twinkling away against an awesome coherence of infinity. Saariaho, who died in 2023, could not have wished for a clearer night.
The Prokofiev first violin concerto was dashed off by Ibragimova with gymnastic knee bends and a huge smile that she kept sharing with the first desk of violins, all of them women. Her bubbling enthusiasm made a welcome contrast to the ice-queen soloists who mostly play this piece. Lintu matched her with batonless hands.
Carl Nielsen’s fifth symphony has a snare drum rattling out its war theme and a mourning for lost pastoral landscapes. Nielsen thought it more dissonant than Schoenberg. The clarinet, as so often with this Dane, gets all the best lines. This was a vastly accomplished performance, hugely enjoyed by every section of the orchestra, perhaps for its infrequency, and raucously received in the hall.
Taken together, this concert was a masterclass in concert planning. The hall was maybe two-thirds full – the corporate classes must have been scared off – but those who came did so specifically for this music and the intensity of their listening was palpable.
New York used to hear Nielsen symphonies when Lenny was in command and briefly again under Alan Gilbert. Niesen would not make it today as a main course onto Carnegie’s menu, let alone the Kennedy Center’s.
The LPO’s next event this weekend is Arvo Pärt’s first symphony, followed by Tan Dun’s Water Concerto and the third symphony of Lutoslawki. Another concet you’d never hear in New York.
NL
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