Conductor: Robin Ticciati
Pianist: Francesco Piemontesi
Tonight’s programme brings together two pieces that are linked by a strain of Romanticism (big “R”) in their lush, expansive musical style, as well as by the small “r” romanticism of the subjects that are said to have inspired parts of the music. The opening piece, Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, was based on a fantasie written in a burst of creativity shortly after his marriage to concert pianist Clara Wieck; whilst the famous Adagietto movement from tonight’s centrepiece, Mahler’s Fifth Symphony, is assumed to be a love song for his wife, Alma. It forms a neat starter/main structure for an evening of emotional intensity showcasing the strength and depth of the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Our soloist for the piano concerto, Francesco Piemontesi, is flamboyant, as you would hope, in his virtuosity. At times, he isn’t even looking at the keys as he looks around to connect with the rest of the orchestra and conductor, Robin Ticciati. The schmaltzy romanticism of the concerto comes across as a lite version of the Adagietto from the Mahler symphony. It’s music for gazing longingly into a partner’s eyes across a candlelit dining table. There’s a Hollywood kind of heartache to it, where you know the protagonists are going to end up together.
There isn’t a great deal of tension in the tonality of the piece. Even the cadenza of the first movement seems stately and proper. The complexity of the solo part hots up in the final movement where it seems like Piemontesi is playing excited trills and runs for minutes on end. It’s a workout that is handled with control, style and expression with lots of playful rubato.
As the Mahler symphony trumpets into being, it’s clear quite early on that we’re in a more tortured tonal realm than the Schumann. The first movement is after all a death march written after the composer himself had narrowly escaped death, so we know we’re in for some psychological intensity. The trumpet soloist is strident and ushers in some woozy Viennese dancehall tunes that sound like grotesque inversions of a good night out.
The second movement continues the tortured atmosphere with a constantly wandering tonal centre and exciting crescendi. Ticciati, with his mop of curly hair, like the progeny of Sir Simon Rattle, looks like the captain of a ship on a stormy sea, just about controlling the chaos around him. It’s a symphony that showcases moments of controlled solo performances. In the fugue-like, Bach-influenced Scherzo we have playful snatches from flute, horn, violin, building up to a deafening, explosive ending.
The Adagietto movement from Mahler’s Fifth has taken on a life of its own in the repertoire after its inclusion in the film Death in Venice. Tonight’s performance underlines why it is such a beloved piece. It’s truly thrilling to experience a world-class orchestra linger on the aching phrases that almost grind to a halt in an intoxication of lovestruck desire and pain. There’s a darkness here that isn’t present in the love illustrated in the Schumann, like the possibility of losing said love is pre-emptively heartbreaking. Ticciati harnesses the orchestra with exacting control as the music ebbs and flows, elastic to the point of almost breaking apart.
The final movement evokes the feeling of coming out the other side of a period of torment. It’s like the saved man dancing a jig, lots of simple phrases being exchanged between parts of the orchestra, all culminating in a resounding fanfare climax that’s like an ecstatic coronation. It feels like we’ve been shown what a symphony should be – an illustration of the full gamut of human experience, the dizzying highs and the devastating lows.
Reviewed on 19 March 2025
The Reviews Hub Score
Evening of emotional intensity
