The opening Rondo was sumptuously played by the orchestra’s rich strings, with particularly expressive contributions by woodwind and horns.
[Beethoven]’s Symphony No 9 in D minor (Choral) was delivered, as always with these performers, as though every phrase, every note, really mattered.
The orchestra was joined by the London Symphony Chorus and soloists for a first-rate performance which Rattle, while squeezing intense emotion – as well as brilliantly controlled dynamic contrast – out of all the forces, didn’t allow to spill outside of its period sensibilities.
From the opening moments, glowing with longing and tenderness, to the way the strings dug deep for the elegiac final movement, the orchestra’s performance was one of heightened colour and feverish energy.
The present reading accordingly played to the work's strengths; an impressive and involving performance.
The playful vehemence of the Scherzo and hymnlike spirituality in the Adagio sounded all the more like pure Beethoven, making this a concert of gripping intensity.
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The cheers at the end (and how quiet the audience had been until then) were testament to the emotions this piece in an exceptional performance can deliver.
Rattle inserted an unmarked, but highly effective, pause before the great theme and was beautifully phrased, which moved to a triumphant conclusion where the power of a full-sized modern symphony orchestra brought a lump to the throat.
The pompous and slightly threatening trombones at the start of the fourth movement were thrillingly played, and the mournful-then-wry solo bassoon was expertly characterised.
Under Rattle, the LSO’s delicacy is astounding.
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Rattle made us keenly aware of the moments of real originality, not least the overture, where stony trombone chords and distant percussive thuds summoning the awfulness of the scene were offset by moments of consolation.
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A Beethoven Ninth to remember from Rattle and the London Symphony Orchestra. This performance was sure to be a major highlight of Beethoven 250 in London.
The Presto was frenzied and thrilling, before the energy leeched away and the brass sledgehammers heralded the emotional heart of the piece.
