Cargill was not the only one visibly affected by the evening’s closing coup de théâtre, as rank upon rank of children from the Tiffin School gradually filled the floor of the stalls to play their part in Berlioz’s sublimely extended epilogue, which on this occasion was not a bar too long. I would gladly return for the repeat performance on Tuesday just to hear the last five minutes again.
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Exuberantly colourful and displaying a real melodic gift, [Helen Grime's] five-minute work traversed a brilliant series of sound-worlds, drawing on each section of the orchestra in turn, from high woodwinds to tuned percussion to violins, harp and celeste.
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As music-making, it was electrifying. In half a century I have rarely heard any orchestra so obviously relishing being challenged to the limit of its virtuosity, rapport and stamina. Whether stonking through the pounding techno-beats of Thomas Adès’s Asyla or bringing the provincial Victorian characters of Enigma vividly to life, the LSO responded to its new guv’nor like a Derby winner to a master jockey.
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Now that he’s finally back with us again, the British public is in for the most amazing future: we’re once again going to hear music like we’ve really never heard it before. This is Rattle.
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Oliver Knussen’s Symphony No. 3 positively teems with humanity. The amplitude and richness of the score was realised superbly by the LSO on top form under Rattle.
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This was a rigorous, uplifting kick-off for the LSO’s Rattle years, with all to play for.
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[Asyla] is a remarkable piece and was especially so here; Rattle led an urgent and intense account, revealing fully the music’s discombobulating eeriness, macabre marches and scathing trumpet tattoos.
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The LSO played with tremendous commitment: one didn’t need to see the instrumentalists’ smiles to recognise the excitement and enthusiasm with which they are welcoming their new musical director. This programme made enormous demands and they certainly rose to the occasion.
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But it was in the following work, Oliver Knussen’s Symphony No 3, that we could most fully appreciate the finesse of the Rattle-meets-LSO machine. The work’s transparent textures and luminous orchestration could not have been served much better.
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Rattle began his formal public-facing relationship with the LSO with a bold statement of intent – a programme celebrating British composers that gives the UK concert scene a shot in the arm. A bold start to a new relationship a lot of us have considerable hopes pinned on.
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In a time when there isn't much good news around, this exciting evening suggested that this potentially epochal combination of conductor and orchestra is at least one reason to be cheerful.
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As a whole, though, the concert was hugely impressive; the start of this new era for the LSO could hardly have been more auspicious.
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But Rattle’s master-stroke was to conclude with a performance of the Enigma Variations which had such visceral excitement that it felt absolutely new-minted. Welcome home, maestro.
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