Rattle and LSO at Edinburgh 20 August

[Philip M]

Simon Rattle took over the LSO 2 years ago. Last night he brought them again to the Usher Hall in Edinburgh, as part of the 2019 Edinburgh Festival.

Just 2 works - Adams’ Harmonielehre and Rachmanonov’s 2nd Symphony - both works that I first heard Simon conduct over a quarter of a century ago with the CBSO in Symphony Hall.

I confess to still struggling with the Adams. I find it repetitious. The 17’ first movement though does have masses of energy, and Rattle’s performance had extraordinary clarity and drive. At the end of it, the silence was interrupted by a shout of “Wow” from the gods, in response to which Rattle turned round, looked upwards, beamed and blew a kiss!

The second movement had a rich sonority - but how I wish the melody was more memorable.Eventually the finale led to a suitably bombastic climax, that brought the house down.

Simon conducted the Rachmaninov from memory. The hour passed quickly, with Rattle typically allowing the detailed inner voices to be heard. The strings produced a luxurious tone (how they must love playing outside their notoriously dry Barbican home). The clarinet solo on the 2nd movement was searingly beautiful. And those words “drive” and “energy” kept reappearing.

Sadly there were no BBC microphones so Radio 3 listeners will never have the pleasure of hearing a special concert.

[Philip M]

Mea culpa. It was 21 August!

[Ricordanza]

Thanks for your review, and welcome to CMG!