He only began composing symphonies in his mid-50s, yet 24 years later, Philip Glass is already working on his 11th, having passed the psychologically important hurdle of his Ninth in 2011.
A substantial piece in three movements, totalling 50 minutes, it was presented here by the Bruckner Orchester Linz under its chief conductor, Dennis Russell Davies. The orchestra has been responsible for commissioning and premiering more of Glass’s symphonic works than any other organisations or individuals.
Some would claim that Glass’s compositional stance, based on repetition and discrete blocks of material, is antithetical to the essentially dialectical approach of the Austro-German symphonic tradition, as exemplified in the works of Beethoven, Brahms, Bruckner and Mahler. Yet Glass cites all four as his forebears, as well as Prokofiev and Shostakovich, suggesting that: ‘When you start putting numbers on symphonies, you are inviting people to look at [them] as part of a lineage.’
In any event, this cogent and expressive performance achieved a momentous sense of development and growth in a piece that draws the listener along a trajectory that, while looser than the models listed by Glass, proves compelling.
The rest of the programme consisted of works by Beethoven, starting with the late and disappointing King Stephen overture in an interpretation that could have done with more dynamism. That vital quality arrived, though, with the performance by Melvyn Tan, stepping in for an indiposed Ingolf Wunder, of the Fourth Piano Concerto in a reading, skilfully accompanied by Davies, that was clean, articulate and full of personality.
