REVIEW: BBC Philharmonic, City Hall
THE new Sheffield International Concert Season could hardly have had a more rousing start.
Sonorous trombones and double timpani heralded Liszt's descent into the Inferno in his Dante Symphony, a tumultuous experience in the extreme, driven with demonic energy by Gianandrea Noseda – even the BBC's microphones were rocking under the force.
A lyrical and passionate central 'Rimini' section had an undercurrent of menace before an ear-catching, mellow oboe transported us into the repose of Purgatory and, again, wonderful orchestral sonorities.
The small female choir of Philharmonic Chorus members at the end of the work was inaudible initially, although they and all the chorus shook the rafters in the last movement of Beethoven's Choral Symphony.
Singing without scores, the chorus sang its collective heart out, making a magnificent sound in the process and driven by a tornado called Noseda whose beat they could hardly miss.
Also without scores as a prop, the four soloists were superb, the choral section being lead off in true heroic Wagnerian style by Iain Paterson, but the evening's hero was on the podium.
Noseda is a conductor of the old school, meaning it's the music that counts without 'interpretation' ladled on it. Not that it made him anonymous in any way, indeed there was a fire in his conducting reminiscent of the legendary Toscanini.
His tempi were consistent and brisk, the scherzo infectious with clean textures, crispness and Mendelssohn-like lightness, the ensuing movement without the indulgence of others in it, flowing with lyrical grace as Noseda smiled with pleasure.
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Weather for Sheffield
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: 12 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 21 C
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