Janet Banks visits London’s Royal Festival Hall on 22 March 2026 for the performance of Tchaikovsky, Wieniawski, Bacewicz and Walton
As one of the Philharmonia’s violinists said in his engaging introduction, Maxim Vengerov as a substitute isn’t bad! Both Vengerov and conductor Mark Wigglesworth had stepped in at short notice, replacing Lisa Batiashvili and Santtu-Matias Rouvali.
The audience was obviously delighted and gave Vengerov a hero’s welcome. From his very first notes in Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto the emphasis was on lyricism rather than on soloistic ego. I was struck by his humility in the face of the music, which he treated with moving gentleness.
He held the whole audience spellbound with his hushed second theme and his filigree high triplets sounded fairy-like and perfectly tuned – unlike the cadenza’s first two high harmonics which, strangely, were slightly flat. Here, too, he seemed in private ecstasy, prolonged by the sweetly toned flute entry.
Vengerov started the Canzonetta incredibly softly, drawing the audience in. His chromatic build-up in the bridge passage to the finale was exaggeratedly drawn out, before he set off at breakneck speed, Wigglesworth keeping the orchestra impressively synchronised – the whole movement was breathtaking.
Vengerov played his encore, the Romance from Wieniawski’s Second Violin Concerto, with deep feeling and some particularly expressive portamentos. His love for it was so self-evident that the audience could not help but respond.
The excellence of the Philharmonia’s string section, noticeable in the bite-sized movements of Bacewicz’s Divertimento for Strings, was again in evidence after the interval in a subtly nuanced and vibrant performance of Walton’s First Symphony.
JANET BANKS
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