The programme for the LSO under Valery Gergiev comprised three Russian pieces:
Tamara by Balakirev. In my ignorance I had never heard of him and although Tamara is said to be his masterpiece it left me rather cold. Indeed, I found somewhat irritating what the proramme noted described as "the syncopations and rythmic dislocations, the sheer frenzy, even hysteria, of some passages". However, my irritation might hasve also been provoked by the constant snuffling of the person next to me who seemed entirely unaware of her intrusiveness!
Gluzunov's Violin Concerto, played by Roman Simovic. This was a very different matter and I really liked the concerto and the playing of it. It is an altogether cleaner affair and again the prgramme notes capture it well as "a sort of exalted lyricism almost entirely dominated by the soloist". Roman Simovic was extremely well received by the audience and treated us to a quite lengthy encore.
Rachmaninov's Symphony No 1. Like the first piece, this surges through the emotions but it does so in a way that felt for me far more artful. Written when he was only 22 in 1895, the symphony was badly performed at its premiere under the possibly drunken baton of Glazunov. The resulting vavaging by the critics caused great self-doubt in the composer who only regained self-belief after hypnotherapy. Of course, Gergiev played his part in a far more supportive manner, fully jumping up and down on his podium in animation at one point and provoking a rapturous response from the audience.
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