LPO: Rachmaninov and Holst

Usher Hall, 5/8/2025

London Philharmonic Orchestra, Edward Gardner (Conductor), Beatrice Rana (Piano)

Having sung with all the great London orchestras in my career, it is always interesting to hear one in the flesh as an audience member. The London Philharmonic Orchestra, under their principal conductor, Edward Gardner, brought an intriguing programme to the EIF, and it obviously had caught the public’s attention, as it was sold out, including the Organ Gallery.

Firstly, we heard Judith Weir’s piece for orchestra ‘Forest’, which was premiered in Birmingham in 1995. She has said that the roots of the work were in the theme played by solo lower strings at the beginning, and that it grew, like a forest, from those initial ideas. I found it quite likeable but I wasn’t really engaged in the soundscape, and I wasn’t sure where we were going in this arboreal world. Sadly, again, the programme notes were unhelpful/non-existent!

The Usher Hall Steinway was brought on next, for the extraordinary ‘Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini’ by Sergei Rachmaninov. The soloist was the superb Italian pianist, Beatrice Rana, who, slightly bizarrely, will be playing the same piece on Friday 8th August with a completely different orchestra (BBCSO) at the London Proms. The theme is from Paganini’s Caprice for solo violin no. 24 and is basically a set of 24 variations moulded into three groupings similar to the movements of a concerto. It was a flashy performance of a flashy piece, written in 1934, and both Ms Rana and Mr Gardner took us on a journey of discovery through all those variations. Her playing was assured, lyrical, thrilling and inspired, the highlight as always being Variation 18, Andante Cantabile, which is just a lovely piece of music.

After the interval, the LPO gave us a majestic account of Holst’s suite, ‘The Planets,’ a work started before the outbreak of World War 1, but first performed publicly in its entirety only in November 1920. Holst had become interested in astrology, and the idea of a suite describing the seven known planets in relation to their astrological nature intrigued him. The consequent piece has become one of the most beloved works of any English composer, and its dissimilarity to most of the rest of Holst’s oeuvre makes it all the more fascinating.

The first movement, Mars, the Bringer of War, is one of the most daring and shocking pieces of music ever composed, and this performance was frighteningly visceral, the pummelling drums and brass truly terrifying. Venus, the Bringer of Peace, comes as welcome respite, with some lovely solos from the principal players. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity opens up vistas of jovial English pastoral scenes, while Saturn, the Bringer of Old Age, offers no great consolation to near septuagenarians like myself! The final movement, Neptune the Mystic, features a female wordless off-stage chorus. Tonight, this was sung by the girls of the National Youth Choir of Scotland, whose tuning was slightly awry.

Edward Gardner conducted the work with great bravura, his beat clear and precise, but rather lacking in soul. We were honoured with an encore, Elgar’s ‘Sospiri’, which was exquisite.

Photo credit: Jess Shurte