Barbican Hall, Wednesday 22 February 2017

The UK premiere of Wolfgang Rihm’s Piano Concerto No2 may have accounted for the rather thin audience but those who stayed away missed one of the finest Bruckner performances I can recall in many years.

Rihm’s work fluctuates between tonal and atonal sentiments meaning that the ear is never quite at ease with the developmental line. There are many quasi-lyrical passages, and the gentler sections often come close to moving the listener but then the underlying tension works against this. The snare-drum towards the end brings a rare moment of consolidation to a work which can seem to be drifting away from us. The piano part is fiercely demanding with hardly a moment of respite for the soloist. In this capacity Nicolas Hodges was a tireless enthusiast and at times came close to convincing us that the work was greater than the sum of its parts. Lothar Koenigs brought sensitivity to many passages but could do little to enthuse us about the whole.

Bruckner’s Seventh Symphony after the interval was another matter altogether. There was superb dynamic range and consistent sensitivity towards the clarity of the score. The second movement had an Elgarian opacity which I can’t recall ever being aware of before. It was full of light and joy, with no sense of the ponderous weight that so many bring to Bruckner. The drive and enthusiasm in the Scherzo was matched by an almost playful approach to the finale.

Thankfully, being a BBC performance, it will be broadcast on Tuesday 28 February and I for one will be listening again.