Shostakovich’s 10th Symphony has become something of a calling card for Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra since Nelsons took up his appointment as music director last year. Their recording, the first instalment of a series entitled Under Stalin’s Shadow, caused a considerable stir, and the symphony formed the main work of Nelsons’ second Prom with his new orchestra.
It was a remarkable achievement, exploring every facet of a complex score. The symphony is widely regarded as an act of self-vindication on Shostakovich’s part after Stalin’s death. Nelsons’ interpretation, however, embraces a wider frame of reference than political anger, although he views the final expression of triumph as one of unambiguous elation. In this performance the structure had an almost Brahmsian tautness, in which not a single note is wasted. Whatever its political subtext, the symphony also encoded Shostakovich’s unrequited love for his pupil Elmira Nazirova, and the third movement was done with extraordinary tenderness. It was immaculately played.
The orchestra wasn’t, however, at its best in Haydn’s 90th Symphony, which began the concert. The horn writing is admittedly difficult, but there were a couple of moments of uncharacteristic unsteadiness near the start, and the brass remained over-prominent throughout. Samuel Barber’s rarely heard Essay No 2 followed. Dating from 1942, it is a wartime piece in which Barber expresses his ambivalent feelings towards his own imminent call-up to the US forces in a turbulent single-movement structure that resolves in a meditative chorale, not far removed in style from his Adagio for Strings. The performance, superbly controlled by Nelsons, was touchingly sincere, the playing scrupulously honed and detailed.
• The Proms continue until 12 September. Box office: 0845-401 5040.
