Festival Music

Filarmonica della Scala

Usher Hall

Hazel Rowland

four stars

AN odd selection of pieces constituted the first of Filarmonica della Scala’s Festival concerts. Enescu’s two Romanian Rhapsodies may be his most well-known works, but they performed the less popular and more introspective second one. Moreover, Bartók’s Viola Concerto was left unfinished at the composer’s death and we can only hear it now in its reconstructed form.

This did not prevent Riccardo Chailly and the Filarmonica della Scala from approaching them with any less enthusiasm. The unison strings that began Enescu’s Second Romanian Rhapsody immediately announced the their powerfully rich sound, while Chailly’s stately pace meant he could draw out all the romanticism from the opening melodies. Full orchestral passages were played with intensity, sounding dramatically operatic.

Julian Rachlin’s striking entrance for Bartók’s Viola Concerto revealed his big, lush sound. In the first movement, the audience were treated to the many sides to his playing, from instances of tender lyricism to rough and furious playing. Rachlin undertook tricky fast passages with ease, whilst also highlighting their quirky, folky nature. A particularly magical moment occurred in the slow second movement, where Rachlin’s quiet melody was masterfully accompanied by the Filharmonica’s astonishingly soft strings.

Shostakovich’s Twelfth Symphony is also a cumbersome choice. It is considered the least profound of his symphonies and can seem like an unapologetic piece of Soviet propaganda. Chailly and the Filarmonica nevertheless treated the work seriously and relished its overt drama. Optimistic passages were never treated as straightforwardly uplifting, since Chailly kept an underlying sense of menace. The work’s final climax is a prolonged one, yet the awesome forces of the Filarmonica playing proudly at full volume ensured its momentum was never lost.