The Berlin Philharmonic (Photo: Berliner Philharmoniker/Lena Laine)
The Berlin Philharmonic’s second appearance at this year’s BBC Proms, under the baton of Kirill Petrenko, featured flawless playing from the orchestra, and a performance of Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 that will live long in the memory. Soloist Augustin Hadelich offered an interpretation that revealed the utmost delicacy, while still possessing the right sense of flow and momentum. Even for world-class performers, it is not easy to ensure that all of the runs towards the top of the fingerboard remain completely in tune during a live performance, and the fact that they did so here reflected the complete precision with which Hadelich executed the work.
The orchestra was similarly on superlative form and from the timpani’s opening thuds, which were spellbinding in their understated sense of urgency, it felt clear that Petrenko had a strong vision for the piece, and would see it fulfilled down to the very last detail. In the ‘Allegro ma non troppo’ the manner in which Hadelich frequently gave the impression that he was lifting and embellishing the orchestral lines, thus taking them to ever greater heights, revealed just how well he and the ensemble were working as one.
Kirill Petrenko (Photo: Berliner Philharmoniker/Lena Laine)
In the ‘Larghetto’ Hadelich’s playing was exceptionally sensitive, and this was one occasion where time almost seemed to stand still as the beauty of his sound made nothing else matter to any listener. His execution of the cadenzas written by Fritz Kreisler was highly persuasive, as was his own arrangement for solo violin of the ‘Träumerei’ from Robert Schumann’s Kinderszenen, Op. 15, which he played by way of an encore.
It was, however, in the final movement where one felt most the paradoxes that seemed to be at play. There were some occasions when Hadelich’s playing could hardly have seemed more tender, and others when the orchestra could not have felt more driven. If, however, individual elements had arguably been taken to extremes, the end product was a meticulously balanced performance in which the array of textures and colours that were brought to the fore created the most coherent whole.
Augustin Hadelich (Photo: BBC/Chris Christodoulou)
The same attention to detail that characterised the orchestra’s output in the concerto was also in evidence after the interval in Scriabin’s Symphony No. 3 in C minor (‘The Divine Poem’). The sense of struggle in the ‘Lutte’ and the sensuousness of the ‘Voluptés’ were vividly conveyed, while the climactic ending to the ‘Jeu divin’ possessed a certain visceral thrill. Along the way, there was exquisite solo violin playing from first concertmaster Daishin Kashimoto, and notably fine contributions from the brass. With Petrenko constantly bringing out nuances that showcased the orchestra’s flair as much as its technical skill, this was a performance that captured both hearts and minds.
The 3 September Prom can be streamed from BBC Sounds.
Full details of all BBC Proms events can be found here: bbc.co.uk.