(3 / 5)



Any trip to the Southbank should be spent with the RPO. Even more noteworthy was their concert the day prior in Bristol, which got the premiere for the UK by Joe Hisaishi. With the rest of the programme all Russian, how would this concert fare?

Opening with Ilse of the Dead by Rachmaninoff, conductor Vasily Petrenko introduced the music with his usual dry humour and insight. I can take or leave some Rachmaninoff, this is in the later for me. Inspired by the painting of the same name, there is an effect of mood and dread, yet it never really mingles with much more than mediocre. Hating to write like this, but this is the truth. Yet, with the Royal Phil and Petrenko the playing is always tight and played with conviction.

Joe Hisaishi is best known for his scores for Miyazaki’s timeless animations. In what sounded like great fun, The Border, Concerto for 3 Horns and Orchestra got its first London outing. I’ll say it felt very hushed at the start, the melody for the horns was stringy, with no grab. Said horns are Ben Hulme, Katy Woolley & Alexander Edmundson, who are musically solid in their roles. Moments where they disconnected their mouths pieces of the horns, to sing into them was a nice touch. The through line mostly felt John Adams like in nature, with bouncy and pounding passages. I was mostly unwowed by it, yet with Hisaishi as RPO’s Composer-in-Association there are chances to hear more.

Petrenko speaking of Scriabin in the first half, informed us of his talent and vision as a composer. Had Scriabin finished his Mysterium, it would have been the greatest work of art every created, an artistic apocalypse. Fate would play his hand and the composer would die young of blood poisoning. His 3rd Symphony is dubbed ‘The Divine Poem’ and has many hallmarks of his style. Saying this, the ecstatic, feverish energy we often attribute to the Russian composer are here, yet are muted. Nearly fifty minutes in length, it is hefty and I think some might struggle with it. He was obsessed with light and the sun, moments would prove this, aside angst and passions. Later, manic work of Scriabin would attract me more, though some moments in here suggested the violence and colour of what was to come and what could have truly been.

This concert will air on BBC Radio 3 on 14th July 2026 at 7:30pm and on BBC Sounds for 30 days after broadcast.