BBC Symphony Orchestra's Newbury concert 'outstanding'
Newbury Spring Festival: Vadym Kholodenko and the BBC Symphony Orchestra at St Nicolas’ Church, on Saturday, May 14. Review by HELEN BOMGARDNER
Saturday’s Newbury Spring Festival concert was a splendid occasion. We welcomed Ukranian pianist Vadym Kholodenko, gold medal winner at the prestigious Van Cliburn Competition, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Ryan Wigglesworth.
The concert was broadcast by the BBC as a highlight of the Festival’s Vaughan Williams 150th celebrations.
The programme started with Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No.5 in E flat major, Op.73, ‘Emperor’. Kholodenko’s passionate and captivating performance was superb – he clearly delighted the audience. His cadenza which opened the first movement, Allegro, was breath-taking with spellbinding ornamentation.
The orchestral exposition was magnificent: exuberant and triumphant. Kholodenko treated us to an awesome display of virtuosity with passages of exciting majestic grandeur contrasting with those of lovely serene lyricism. Particularly memorable was his stunning torrent of octaves in the development.
Eloquent strings set an ethereal mood to a beautiful flowing Adagio un poco mosso. Kholodenko’s playing, full of warmth and colour, was so expressive; tender, reflective and poetic with dazzling rising trills. His transition to the finale was magical.
He introduced the Rondo: Allegro with delightful joie-de-vivre. Both he and the orchestra gave a glorious performance, brimming with exuberance. Kholodenko played with thrilling virtuosity – his dexterity was breath-taking. Finally, the concerto ended in a mood of triumphant jubilation.
Wigglesworth was inspirational in his conducting of the Symphony No 4 in F minor by Vaughan Williams.
The opening grinding dissonance of the first movement, Allegro, was so powerful and dramatic that it immediately captured the tension in this work. Performing with great passion, the orchestra expressed the music’s ‘angry’ mood to great effect – the fiery trumpets were particularly impressive. Lyrical strings, rich in colour, gave an impassioned rendition of their soaring cantilena.
In a troubled and foreboding second movement, Andante Moderato, the woodwind playing was exquisite. The immense climax was intense and dramatic, with magnificent brass fanfare. I found the closing flute solo very moving; melancholy and haunting. The boisterous and exciting Scherzo: Allegro molto was full of rhythmic vigour and high spirits and there were touches of humour in the more leisurely Falstaffian Trio – particularly from the tuba.
Driven with enormous energy, the Finale, Allegro molto con anima, full of tension and yet so exhilarating, was a tour de force from all musicians. The Epilogo fugato, performed with great clarity by every section of the orchestra, was absolutely thrilling. A dramatic ending, explosive and defiant, brought an outstanding concert to a close.