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  CBSO BENEVOLENT FUND CONCERT

Symphony Hall *****

After many months away from the orchestra it was good to catch up with a CBSO in wonderful form, and on such a joyous occasion, a warm and packed audience joining in the annual celebration of the CBSO Benevolent Fund, and all it does to assist distressed musicians and staff. The players clearly adore performing under principal conductor Kazuki Yamada, indulging his all kinds of quirks from the podium, and following him down some surprise byways – of which there were many in the Tchaikovsky symphony which concluded this all-Russian programme.

We began busily, with Shostakovich’s Festival Overture, no need for the composer to look over his shoulder for the KGB here, bubbling with woodwind (this was to be very much their afternoon), string detail scudding out of Yamada’s wide, sweeping, empowering beat.

Then came a very different mood with the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, introversion desperately trying to liberate itself. James Ehnes was soloist, bringing an elegance the composer would have loved, his tone urbane and well-formed, his bowing taut and eloquently phrased with just the right degree of plangency, his ethereal high notes so sweetly delivered. 

Yamada accompanied almost like a twin, empathetic and breathing with Ehnes, the orchestra listening alertly and indeed symbiotically.  A deservedly popular soloist, Ehnes was given a standing ovation at the conclusion, a well-merited ten out of ten which this regrettable craze actually devalues. His encore was one of the rarer movements from a Bach violin sonata, delicately given.

We concluded with more Tchaikovsky, his Fourth Symphony magnificent in both content and structure. Brass were sturdy and implacable in the opening, fanfaring the recurrent, doom-laden motto-theme, followed by lilting strings underpinned by the most subtle timpani punctuations.

The score cascades with woodwind solos, oboist Bobby Cheng and bassoonist Nikolaj Henriques outstanding in their showcases, brass responded to their invitation to be portentous, and the strings plucked their way brilliantly through the scherzo, Yamada sometimes conducting with head, shoulders and hips rather than overworking his baton.

Such exuberant choreography was also much in evidence in the troubled drama of the finale, as well as some manipulations of the score (a couple of drag-backs, a spectacularly elongated hold), as we moved to an exhilarating conclusion. How fascinating that the principal percussionist used two pairs of cymbals along the way, with a subtle difference of timbre in their clashes.

After all the threatened shenanigans over the last year or so, I was pleased not to see any drinks being brought into the auditorium, nor any snapshotting. This was a CBSO event at its time-honoured greatest.

Christopher Morley


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