BBC Symphony Orchestra / Gardner, classical music review: Journey from the skittish to the soulful

Edward Gardner once again proved himself a fine conductor of English music, says Barry Millington
Perfectly calibrated: Louis Schwizgebel
Hiroyuki Ito/Getty Images
Barry Millington18 December 2015

An ill-timed sneeze forced the young Swiss–Chinese pianist Louis Schwizgebel to delay placing the crucial opening chord of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto in G major. Unfazed, he went on to deliver a perfectly calibrated initial phrase and indeed to articulate his part throughout with engaging expressiveness.

If his tonal range veered to the lightweight, an element of skittishness is not out of place in the outer movements of this concerto, and his interplay with the musicians of the BBC SO, equally responsive under the baton of Edward Gardner, was pleasantly diverting.

The Beethoven was preceded by a performance of Oliver Knussen’s The Way to Castle Yonder, based on music from his opera Higglety Pigglety Pop!, which suitably evoked mystery and enchantment.

Gardner’s credentials as a fine conductor of English music were further burnished by his handling of Tippett’s A Child of our Time. The oratorio was written during the Second World War as a protest against atrocity, but also as a contemplation of the darker side of the human soul. With its references to Jung and Wilfred Owen, its bitter- sweet harmonies, jazzy syncopations and, above all, its five spirituals, the work rarely fails to make an impact. Gardner dared broad tempi and pregnant silences, but built each section to powerful climaxes.

He had at his disposal a crack team of soloists: Alice Coote, Robert Murray, Brindley Sherratt and the soprano Sarah Tynan, who sailed ravishingly above the choral swell.

The award-winning BBC Symphony Chorus has gone from strength to strength under the inspiring direction of chorus master Stephen Jackson. He was not there to take applause last night because BBC management, in its wisdom, has just sacked him.

BBC Radio 3, broadcast January 8.

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