Hearing the St Petersburg Philharmonic in the Russian repertoire is always a privilege, and their first Prom with their chief conductor Yuri Temirkanov was in most respects beyond criticism. If the mark of a great interpretation is to allow us to experience the familiar as if for the first time, then two of their performances on this occasion – Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto and Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade – were the stuff of genius.
Nikolai Lugansky, who goes from strength to strength, was the tremendous soloist in the concerto – a performance of dark poetry yet fiercely unsentimental, at times almost to a point of spareness. His moodiness, honesty and poise were mirrored in orchestral playing of exceptional sincerity and depth. Rachmaninov just doesn’t get any better than this.
Scheherazade was comparably brilliant, though some of Temirkanov’s speeds might have raised eyebrows. Sinbad clearly had a very favourable wind for his first voyage – his ship hurtled through the ocean at the start. The Young Prince and the Young Princess, done slowly with tingling sensuality, were very much lovers rather than innocents. Everything thrilled, from the big set-pieces down to the ultra-refined instrumental solos.
Given such excellence, it seems almost churlish to cavil about Tchaikovsky’s Francesca da Rimini, with which they opened. The qualities were the same – faultless playing, an intensity of vision and insight, above all in the central love scene, which gradually developed into something tangibly erotic. Yet Temirkanov inexplicably made a cut in the opening depiction of the hellish whirlwind that buffets Dante’s lovers after their deaths. It didn’t unduly detract from a great occasion. But this is also a great score, and I would have liked to have heard every note of it.
• The Proms continue until Saturday. Box office: 0845-401 5040.
