BBC Proms: Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, Chung

Never has a French invasion of these shores been quite so welcome. The two-day siege currently being staged in the Royal Albert Hall by Myung-Whun Chung and his Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France opened last night with patriotic fervour in an all-French programme. Even Beethoven’s Triple Concerto began rolling its “R”s when cajoled into life by the dashing Capuçon brothers. While their strongly accented interpretation may not have been to everyone’s taste, as an exhalation after the meditative intensity of Messiaen and Dusapin it was perfectly judged.

Showcasing the impossibly blended sound of the Philharmonique’s string section, the first half paired Messiaen’s Les offrandes oubliées with Morning in Long Island – a BBC co-commission from France’s celebrated composer Pascal Dusapin. Home ground for an ensemble known for its contemporary music, it was repertoire whose drama was all the more charged for its gradual reveal.

I can’t have been alone in worrying whether the special quality of Chung’s Messiaen might be lost in the translation into the Royal Albert Hall acoustic, but far from being dulled or flattened out, the string homophony remained twitching with life. The agony of Christ (surely depicted in this opening section by the unearthly pedal notes in wind and brass) gave way to the wincing foreground shrieks and cries of strings (the unison of the opening quite banished), rendering the human sins of the Vif. Chung’s energised precision comes into its own in calibrating the grip and release of Messiaen’s narratives, and here it was the surrender into the final communion section and its still acceptance that provided the balance to the potentially rather histrionic middle section.

After the chaotic uncertainty of the Havergal Brian the night before, the prospect of a work in which the music avowedly “creates itself as it goes” was not enticing. Yet in Dusapin’s (pictured right) abstract tone poem there was an organicism, a logic to its generative structures, that allowed the ear to find paths through its textures. Solo horn, muted trombone (the piece’s dominant colour) and trumpet opened the work, triangulated around the auditorium. The circling sound reflected back off the main body of the orchestra, with gestures echoing and dissenting across the hall. Built around shifting centres of pitch rather than keys, the work’s appeal is in the control of its development. A percussion-driven final movement lost some of the motivic tautness, but the whole was attractive, if – as Chung’s expressive final shrug suggested – somewhat noncommittal.

I suspect it was for the Beethoven that many of the audience had come, and even in the absence of the initially scheduled Martha Argerich there was much here to excite. Sustaining careers both as soloists and chamber musicians, the Capuçons are a distinctive musical force, but perhaps most at home in the later repertoire of the 19th and early 20th centuries. Appearing here alongside their regular collaborator Frank Braley, there was a disparity to the three solo approaches that seemed at odds with their familiarity.

While violinist Renaud cut a much more authentic figure, his sweet tone balanced with a brilliance and forthright directness, Gautier’s cello lines seemed drawn from a different era, all Romantic swagger and yearn. It is perhaps alongside his older brother (that five-year gap here seemed to represent a world of musical maturity) that Gautier’s youth is most evident, with his expressive capacity as yet still slightly hampered by issues of intonation and pacing.

Gathering itself together in time for the electric Rondo alla polacca, the ensemble’s communicative energy finally settled, with Braley elevated from the chaperone role Beethoven assigns the piano to rather more explicitly soloistic writing. Although perhaps a little too rounded and soft of tone, the orchestra under Chung provided efficient support, relishing the rhythmic drive of the final dance.

Sleek and musically groomed, the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France has set the standard for this year’s visiting orchestras. At their best in the self-effacing unity of the Messiaen, it will be interesting to hear their Stravinsky tonight, to learn whether their release can be as great as their control, their gesture as potent as their refusal to act. Tomorrow will also see the Capuçon brothers back with the Brahms Double Concerto they recorded in 2007 – quite an encore, and one that promises to suit Gautier rather better.