Conductor: Vladimir Jurowski
On a dramatic evening, Vladimir Jurowski leads the London Philharmonic Orchestra through a programme embedded in history, tragedy, and resilience. Featuring works by Prokofiev, Mussorgsky, and Lyatoshynsky, it’s a stirring reflection on struggle and survival, resonating powerfully in today’s world.
Opening the concert is a selection of movements from Prokofiev’s suite from Semyon Kotko, an opera shaped by Soviet ideological demands but also infused with the composer’s unmistakable voice.
The suite’s dramatic arc – tracing the upheavals of war-torn Ukraine in 1918 – is performed with searing intensity. Jurowski and the LPO navigate the score’s beauty and brutality deftly. The decision to omit the celebratory finale – originally intended to glorify Soviet victory – is a poignant nod to current events. Instead, the performance ends on the penultimate Funeral movement, its sombre melodies echoing the poet Taras Shevchenko’s Testament, a tribute to the resilience of the Ukrainian people.
Bass Matthew Rose takes the stage next for Mussorgsky’s Songs and Dances of Death, orchestrated by Edison Denisov. Each of the four songs presents Death as a different figure: a motherly comforter, a seductive suitor, a drunken reveller, and a commanding field marshal.
Rose delivers an exquisite performance, his rich bass embodying the different facades of Death with great authority. The LPO provides a backdrop that is alternately delicate and foreboding, underlining the cycle’s grim fatalism. Particularly striking is Lullaby, Death’s first conquest – a baby in her mother’s arms, taken amid her cries. Originally written for a piano accompaniment, Denisov’s alternative orchestration emphasises the tragic darkness throughout.
The second half is devoted to Boris Lyatoshynsky’s Symphony No. 3, a work whose history reflects the hazards of composing under Soviet rule. Written in 1951 with the prophetic subtitle Peace Shall Defeat War, the symphony was deemed unacceptable by the authorities, forcing Lyatoshynsky to rewrite its finale. Tonight, however, Jurowski restores the original version, allowing the work’s intended message to shine through.
From the opening movement’s brooding intensity to the turbulent Adagio, the symphony negotiates a vast emotional landscape. Jurowski’s direction focuses on the music’s restless energy, driving home its sense of urgency. The Scherzo bristles with dissonant chords and eerie battlefield overtones, while the finale surges with raw, unfiltered emotion. The LPO responds with electrifying commitment, bringing out the music’s anguish and defiance in equal measure.
This is a concert of great resonance, uniting three composers whose works, in different ways, confront the forces of oppression and conflict. Jurowski’s direction and the LPO’s execution ensure each piece is given its due weight. In the wake of recent global events, this programme feels more than just a performance – it is a reckoning, a remembrance, and a statement of defiance.
Reviewed on 2 April 2025
