First heard in Perth, Australia, in 2015, Mark-Anthony Turnage’s Håkan is a trumpet concerto, his second, written for Håkan Hardenberger, who gave its UK premiere with the London Symphony Orchestra; John Wilson conducted, replacing the indisposed Daniel Harding. A virtuoso work of some difficulty – Hardenberger told Turnage he thought the first draft too easy – it effectively consists of three genre pieces that never quite succeed in forming a coherent totality.
At its centre is a nocturnal Arietta of considerable beauty, in which the trumpet’s lyrical line hovers, poised and yearning, over shifting string chords and percussion splashes. Turnage’s inspiration dips a bit in the outer movements, however. The first, Falak, alludes to traditional Afghan music, as Hardenberger traces an angular, meandering recitative over string drones and percussive throbs, as the tempo gradually accelerates: the effect is exotic, reminiscent at times of Khachaturian. The closing Chorale Variations become increasingly eruptive as the trumpet phrases become ever more angry, florid and assertive. The solo writing is unremitting, and Hardenberger sounded pushed to his limits at times. Orchestrally, you couldn’t fault it.
After the interval came a magisterial, truly great performance of Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony, a work that Wilson seems to have in his system on this showing. Passion and excitement blended with lucidity. There wasn’t a trace of self-indulgence anywhere. The LSO were on exemplary form, the brass rich and noble, a warm sheen on the strings and woodwind playing of exceptional sincerity and elegance.
