BBC Proms: Liu, Philharmonia, Rouvali review - fine-tuned Tchaikovsky epic

Pianist Bruce Liu wasn’t the only star soloist last night, though he certainly had the most notes to play. Attention was riveted by at least five Philharmonia members and their maverick principal conductor Santtu-Matias Rouvali as percussionist in a joyful Prom.

First off the mark was Antoine Siguré, probably the most compelling orchestral timpanist I’ve ever encountered. Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, daughter of two of Los Folkloristica’s founding members, gifted him solo rollickings which gave her Antrópolis the nature of a concerto, punctuated by snatches of music from Mexico City’s antros or dance halls: a nothing-really-doing bar that eventually showcased the brass, a perfect if slightly over-extended curtain-raiser.

Rouvali, a rather more uneven London orchestral chief than any of his equals, launched Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto with an approach to the opening Allegro brillante which felt too self consciously light. This is an imperially-framed celebration of a work which seems to reflect the scale of Brahms’s two titans in the genre (the German's second had yet to be completed at the time). If you love the material which Tchaikovsky so generously and originally extends, then you’re in for a fantastical journey; I adore it. At first Bruce Liu rather snatched at the big-boned writing, too. But soon everything settled. The second vast cadenza found Liu in Lisztian transcendental mode, clear and impressive, while the delicacies in between the grandeur were crowned by Samuel Coles’ exquisite flute solos. I hope no-one ever returns to Tchaikovsky pupil Ziloti’s truncated version. Who would want to miss every incarnation of the glorious second-movement melody first unfolded by violinist (the ever-creative Philharmonia co-leader Zsolt-Tihamér Visontay, pictured above with Liu) and cellist (Steffan Morris)? The piano comes second, in every way, but makes the return of the long tune the most moving.

The finale is a romp, here crisp and well-defined, Liu’s biggest assets. I didn’t think much of his solo Tchaikovsky disc for Deutsche Grammophon, but the partnership with orchestra and conductor here was well matched. Expecting an encore of one of The Seasons pieces on that CD, I realised there was to be Santtu involvement as a drum kit was brought forward. Rouvali and principal double bass Tim Gibbs teamed up with Liu in a nimble version of Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag which will go down as one of the most fondly-remembered Proms extras of the year. Rouvali always favours a degree of instrumental abstraction in favour of vocalised characterisation in orchestral tone-poems, and the revelation of his Mussorgsky-Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition was the delicate perfection of Ravel’s most French moments in an orchestration which runs the gamut (as does the original – ‘how Russian is it?’ seems a pointless question when the artist’s sketches on which the work is based travel to Paris, Limoges, Poland, Italy).

The latest among the ever-surpising adaptations to Albert Hall acoustics came mostly from the beautifully projected wind playing, both soloistically and as an ensemble, from the most refined Promenade 2 onwards. Big, polished brass of course in the apocalyptic roars from the catacombs, and full percussion impact – big bell included, but once again Siguré’s artistry focused attention – in what we know as “The Great Gate of Kiev”. A vintage evening to another packed house.

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