Lighthouse, Poole; 13 January 2016

Liadov’s folk tale-inspired programme piece Kikimora is a sparky concert opener, new to me and, I suspect, to most of the audience in the packed Lighthouse.  Full of unexpected woodwind and other flourishes, it was played with colourful clarity and a lot of wit.

Shostakovich’s unusually structured first violin concerto totally rejects any hint of classicism by opening with a long slow movement. It isn’t easy to sustain but Kees Bakels – a baton-free conductor with an un-histrionic focus on beating time – ensured that the orchestra engaged fully with the soulful enigmatic mystery of Valeriy Sokolov’s lyrical account of the solo violin part. Sokolov then delighted me and (I think) most others present in his contrasting take on the virtuosic passages of high speed Schostakovichian jazzy rhythms which packed exactly the right level of manic melodic wildness with plenty of complementary woodwind detail in the latter three movements – especially the scherzo – and Sokolov’s spectacular, and diabolically difficult, double stopping in the cadenza was delivered with terrific panache.

Notwithstanding the ongoing debate about Beethoven’s metronome markings and intentions, I don’t accept that the opening movement of the glorious Fifth Symphony should be a gallop. The first two bars are three crotchets and a minim and the movement is marked allegro con brio. Had Beethoven meant three semiquavers and a quaver I’m pretty sure he would have written that and marked it prestissimo. In this performance Bakels pushed the orchestra so fast that far too much of the detail became an aural blur which was a pity. The latter three movements worked much better with a rich warm sound, especially from the lower strings in the andante; and what fun – after they’ve sat waiting for three movements – to have the trombones stand when they eventually played. It certainly drives Beethoven’s triumphant message home as the piccolo, perfectly played here, weaved its excited magic at the top of the texture. SE