Classical review: Moscow Philharmonic

A VERY Russian orchestra, with conductor and soloist also from Russia, playing an all-Russian programme promised an exciting evening at the Usher Hall on Wednesday. In the event, it was a mixed bag. Legendary maestro Yuri Simonov can be a flamboyant showman, nowhere more so here than in excerpts from Prokofiev’s ballet Romeo and Juliet. Quite what the effect his twirls and arabesques had, however, was sometimes difficult to detect. His child Juliet was more a lumpy teenager than carefree young lover, while the Montagues and Capulets could have been Russian armies marching across the steppes rather than knights of Renaissance Italy.

Yet Simonov and the orchestra have an impressive ability to quick-change from a big, fruity, rich sound to quiet shimmers, a skill which they used to give fresh impact to Tchaikovsky’s well-worn Violin Concerto.

Young soloist Nikita Boriso-Glebsky is a violinist to look out for. Still in his twenties, he approached the piece almost reverentially, as if paying homage to one of the giants of the repertoire, growing in stature and volume to make every one of Tchaikovsky’s tuneful melodies sing out to the audience. The first movement’s brilliant cadenza easily ticked the virtuoso box, with real beauty as a solo flute led the transition back to the orchestra.

Wind playing was also a strength in Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. Simonov exposed the character of Hartmann’s paintings by mixing carefully placed emphasis on orchestral texture with raw-edged emotion.