Orthodoxy would suggest that a visceral approach to the monster symphony, reflecting the social, political and military circumstances surrounding its conception, creation and early performances, is the appropriate way of defining exactly what this great war-symphony is all about. And, as we know in Scotland from the 1980s, when Neeme Jarvi unleashed and recorded scalding performances of the Leningrad, such an approach is incredibly effective.
However, it is not the only way, as Gergiev demonstrated in a performance with his fabulous Mariinsky Orchestra, with their dark sound, wraparound woodwind playing, immaculately balanced golden brass and lean, searing strings. If anything, Gergiev understated the delivery of the symphony: holding back, joining up its most punchy statements rather suavely, giving the music a sense of growth and restraining its most extrovert violence to secure maximum release when it finally exploded.
Gergiev’s was a long view of the symphony, resisting the temptation of the quick fix and the fast thrill. That demanded patience of the listeners in the capacity house. But that is the precise reason why the cataclysmic climaxes in the first and last movements were so devastating: Gergiev made you wait. And equally, it was the exact reason why the symphony’s lighter, lyrical and haunting moments, alluringly played by this great orchestra, were so touching and moving.
It is also why, in the relatively unfamiliar terrain of the great nonagenarian French composer Henri Dutilleux’s Correspondences for soprano and orchestra – which opened the concert and was beguilingly sung by Anastasia Kalagina – this post-Debussyan opus was so clear and direct: Gergiev only does clarity.
Star rating: *****
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