Concert review: Midori (violin) Royal Philharmonic Orchestra/Alexander Shelley

With music by Richard Strauss framing Sibelius’s Violin Concerto from Midori and a 2009 piece by Joe Hisaishi, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s season opener promised much in the dramatic storytelling stakes. In the event, that promise, under associate conductor Alexander Shelley, was not always fulfilled, with his witty and musicologically rich spoken introductions more engaging than the actual performances themselves. That said, the two central works especially served up some great moments.

Cadogan Hall’s dry acoustic isn’t a naturally supportive partner to Sibelius’s shimmering score, but Shelley worked with it, going for a crisply powerful momentum that complemented Midori’s own nimbly articulated, neatly clipped phrases and her utter intensity, emotionally speaking, and tonal focus. Her lower registers packed the biggest sonic punch, and were then wonderfully counterbalanced in her encore: a sweet-toned, quicksilver flow of the Prelude from Bach’s Third Violin Partita, played with virtuosic rapidity.

RPO composer-in-association Hisaishi’s Sinfonia for Chamber Orchestra, receiving its European premiere, is an optimistic creation whose minimalist writing, flecked with colourful harmonies, culminates in a cleverly conceived homage to Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. Played with clear enjoyment, it was well received. So while neither of the Strauss works (Till Eulenspiegels lustige Streiche and the Suite from Der Rosenkavalier) quite took off in dramatic terms, the high points were worth the journey.

CHARLOTTE GARDNER