EIF 26: Closing Concert

Usher Hall 30/8/26

Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra

Kirill Petrenko (Conductor)

Augustin Hadelich (Violin)

As a young man, I became obsessed with Classical Music, and many of the recordings I learned from were with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Herbert von Karajan. The combination of the legendary conductor with the pre-eminent orchestra of the day, usually recorded by Deutsche Grammophon, formed a crucial part of my musical upbringing, and so when I learned that the Berlin Philharmonic was playing the closing concert of the 2026 Edinburgh International Festival, I was first in the queue to review it.

It was clear on Sunday evening that I was not alone, as the Usher Hall was as full as I have ever seen it, and there was a palpable sense of excitement in the air beforehand. Karajan died in 1989, and his successors as Chief Conductor have been Claudio Abbado, Sir Simon Rattle and the present incumbent, Kirill Petrenko, the Russian maestro who conducted tonight’s and last night’s concerts.

In marked contrast to the commanding figure of Karajan, Mr Petrenko appeared as a rather dapper, diminutive figure in black, but any suggestion of inferiority was blown away by the magisterial conducting of this superb musician, and his orchestra was absolutely magnificent in this concert of Beethoven and Scriabin.

The same, alas, cannot be said of the feeble freesheet programme, which again contrived to fill its origami puzzle-style pages with as little information as possible, covering the Berlin orchestra’s 3 concert residence. Two sentences in one paragraph was all we were given about the two works in tonight’s concert.

The first half was devoted to Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, a hugely familiar work but one that is difficult to bring off. Written in 1806 for the violinist, Franz Clement, and premiered in the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, it was initially a failure, and only came into prominence when championed by the violin virtuoso, Joseph Joachim, in London in 1844, conducted by Felix Mendelssohn, long after Beethoven’s death. Now accepted as one of the greatest works for the instrument, it is in three movements – a very long first movement of herculean intensity, a lyrical but slightly mysterious slow movement, and then a jolly romp of a finale in rondo form.

The soloist tonight was the Italian-German-American violinist, Augustin Hadelich, a player new to me but clearly a major virtuoso on the world stage, who gave us an utterly wonderful performance of this work of genius. From the very beginning, he dazzled us both with his flawless technique and with his beautiful tone, playing the 1744 Leduc/Szeryng Guarneri del Gesu, an instrument of warm mellifluousness, capable of reaching into the furthest recesses of the Usher Hall with absolute clarity. Perfectly in tune with Mr Petrenko’s conducting, and the orchesta’s glorious sound world, this was a reading of the Beethoven concerto as near perfect as one could imagine, brilliant virtuosity combined with deeply emotional intensity. Not afraid to take their time over many passages, conductor and soloist seemed in almost telepathic agreement about how the music should sound, and with all the woodwind playing faultlessly and the strings singing as only the Berlin Phil can, the performance was truly stunning. The cadenzas have been expanded and rewritten by numerous soloists over the years, and I got the impression that Mr Hadelich had done the same. Certainly, his encore, a bewitching arrangement for solo violin of Schumann’s Traumerei, appeared almost magical, with heart-stopping harmonics glistening in the perfect acoustic of the Usher Hall.

After the interval, the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra under Kirill Petrenko played the astonishing 3rd Symphony by Alexander Scriabin, ‘Le Divin Poème’. Written between 1902 and 1904, it was premiered in 1905 in Paris, and it fully established the composer as a remarkable figure, blending theosophy, symbolism and metaphysics with the concept of music and harmony as visual as well as aural sensations. We needn’t dwell too long on the wacky background, but the music is a sensation in itself, highly chromatic but rooted in some sort of tonality.

I was familiar with Scriabin’s ‘Poeme d’Extase’ (1908) from an early age, and loved its almost orgasmic extravagance, but the Divine Poem is more subtle, and perhaps more interesting to your rather more adult reviewer! It is in four sections: Introduction, Struggles, Delights and Divine Play, and uses an enlarged orchestra to great effect. When that orchestra happens to be the best in the world, the result is overwhelming and utterly thrilling. Mr Petrenko found every ounce of passion and emotion in the work, from strongly attacked strings, through sonorous brass instruments (a big shout out to Alexander von Puttkamer on Tuba and the eight Horns!), beautifully detailed woodwind, and right at the back in the middle, the dominating timpani of Vincent Vogel. Special bravos to First Trumpet, David Guerrier and the glorious playing of tonight’s Concertmaster, Daishin Kashimoto. The Symphony was brought to a rousing climax, and a great roar from the audience greeted the glorious ending. This was truly a Closing Concert of note, and brought a largely splendid Edinburgh International Festival to a fitting end. Great music played by a great orchestra, although some Bruckner or Mahler might have been even better!

Let us hope that the powers that be still recognise that the EIF is the crowning glory of the ‘Edinburgh Festivals’ and that these high standards can be maintained in the face of the relentless advance of mediocrity.