PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA AT THE BBC PROMS – SEPTEMBER 2020

RAVEL: Le tombeau de Couperin
SHOSTAKOVICH: Concerto in C minor for Piano, Trumpet and strings with Benjamin Grosvenor
MOZART: Symphony No.41 in C, K551 (Jupiter)

“Replacing Esa-Pekka Salonen, if without changing the programme, Paavo Järvi opened with Le tombeau de Couperin, Ravel’s tribute to friends lost in World War One, expressive music located through a Baroque lens … The Philharmonia Orchestra responded supersensitively to its unexpected if familiar guest-conductor, Järvi choosing well-judged tempos to keep things bubbling along and on-track without denuding the score’s veiled tears and the need for crisp but not robotic articulation …”
Classical Source, Colin Anderson, 9 September 2020

“The Menuetto allegretto danced, Järvi conducting with a broad smile and big round gestures that gave the music a rolling gait. The final movement is the crowning glory of this symphony, and a suitable finale to Mozart’s symphonic output. Here the natural trumpets soared, the period timps had edge … The climax, when the five themes are combined in triumphant counterpoint, is irresistible.”
The Arts Desk, Bernard Hughes, 10 September 2020