Review: LSO: MACMILLAN AND SHOSTAKOVICH 12, Barbican Theatre

The London Symphony Orchestra continued their April-June season last night in the Barbican Hall with a programme of Shostakovich and MacMillan. As conductor Gianandrea Noseda nears the end of his Shostakovich symphony cycle for LSO Live, he opens this programme with the short but impassioned Festive Overture before moving on to Symphony No 12, 'The Year 1917' in the second half.

James MacMillan's regular collaboration with Nicola Benedetti continues in the Violin Concerto No 2, written especially for her. As she plays both with bow and pizzicato, this is a challenging piece that adds an expressionist layer to the underlying melody from strings, woodwind, and trumpet. It is at times a repetitive piece, with tones of marching and melancholia, but builds to a profusion of melody and some virtuoso flourishes.

This concerto offers a sense of hope and consolation from the first three notes to the eventual climax of a hover of flutes. At times Benedetti's violin engaged in duet with a variety of woodwind instruments, while passages of tenderness offer a warm grasp of the melody. In setting this new piece between two classics from the mid-20th century, we move seamlessly from the vivacity of the Festive Overture to the deep introspection of the 12th Symphony.

Across four consecutive movements, performed without pause, Shostakovich dedicated his symphony to the memory of Lenin, while offering a number of perspectives on the Soviet experience before and after 1917. It is a dramatic piece in its scope and drive, starting with a sense of revolution, moving into peaceful reflection, then the unsettling spectacle that began the Russian Revolution.

The percussion and woodwind sections were particularly expressive in last night's rendition, while the strings maintain a reflective tone on the stories and senses presented through this highly political piece. It lacks some of the flourishes and passion present in the composer's other symphonic work, but Noseda's clear affinity with the piece made it a pleasure to watch, and it offered a chance to muse on the current state of the world and its conflicts.

This was a concert that showcased an orchestra which continues at the top of its game, while reintroducing a piece which has had a chequered critical and popular history. The programme as a whole tackles themes of oppression, revolution, and acceptance and appeared to be well received by the audience. It may not offer chills and send you out on a high, but this was a pleasurable evening's entertainment.

The LSO's Macmillan and Shoskakovich programme plays again at Beacon Hall, Bristol, on 5 April

Photo credit: Mark Allan