Conductor: Ben Glassberg
The BBC Philharmonic, one of the world’s most prestigious orchestras with a history spanning more than a century since its founding in 1922, delivered one of the standout concerts of the 60th HACS Harrogate Music Festival. Renowned for its versatility, with recent concerts covering contemporary film scores as well as major classical works, the BBC Philharmonic filled Harrogate’s Royal Hall to capacity for a programme reflecting the summery atmosphere of the festival.
Under conductor Ben Glassberg, music director of both the Opéra de Rouen Normandie and Vienna’s Volksoper, the programme was delivered with passion and enthusiasm. An energetic presence on the podium, Glassberg shaped the music with clear, purposeful conduction while allowing individual sections of the orchestra sufficient room to breathe. He also brought a strong sense of structure to the evening, balancing Louise Farrenc’s Overture No. 1 in E minor, Op. 23 and Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 35 before the interval with the greater weight of Brahms’ Symphony No.1 in C minor, Op. 68 in the second half of the performance.
Louise Farrenc’s Overture No. 1 provided an energetic and strongly characterised opening to the concert. Glassberg sustained a firm rhythmic momentum throughout, allowing the work’s dramatic contrasts and mounting tension to emerge without ever sounding overwhelming. The BBC Philharmonic brought impressive clarity to Farrenc’s tightly constructed composition, with urgent string playing matched by sharply defined woodwind contributions. The orchestra’s strong ensemble playing carried this overture towards a memorable, electrifying conclusion.
Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto followed, with award-winning violinist Hana Chang, named among Classic FM’s Rising Stars of 2024, taking centre stage. Chang played with assurance and offered an immediately engaging stage presence that sustained the concerto’s long span without straining its intensity. Her central Canzonetta brought some of the performance’s most intimate and finely judged playing. Here, she adopted a quieter tone, supported by delicately shaded woodwind and restrained strings. Glassberg ensured the accompaniment was responsive and allowed the performance to develop as a genuine exchange between soloist and orchestra.
In the finale, Chang dispatched its rapid changes of register and dancing rhythms with precision and flair, while the orchestra responded with equal momentum. The wholehearted applause that followed Tchaikovsky’s concerto acknowledged both the expressive sensitivity of Chang’s playing and her coordination with the orchestra.
After a short interval, Glassberg shepherded the orchestra through Brahms’ Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 68, a work with a famously long and difficult composition. The BBC Philharmonic’s lower strings gave the music an appropriately dark foundation, while the woodwind underpinned memorable moments of warmth without weakening the underlying tension. Glassberg proved particularly effective at managing Brahms’ transitions, maintaining the movement’s direction even as the music grew increasingly dense.
That final movement supplied the concert’s most stirring passages. Its uncertain opening was patiently conducted by Glassberg, and the fragments of melody gradually coalesced until the famous horn theme emerged with spacious grandeur. The orchestra gave the movement warmth and conviction without making it too ponderous. Brass and strings combined in a finale of tremendous weight, filling the Royal Hall with a sound that was bold and satisfying.
The BBC Philharmonic has long excelled in large-scale Romantic repertoire, and this performance found the orchestra at its boldest and most commanding, bringing the 60th Harrogate Music Festival to an exhilarating conclusion.
Reviewed on 5th July 2026
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