Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Shostakovich at the Royal Albert Hall

On Sunday evening, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra treated their audience in the Royal Albert Hall to a program of late 19th and early 20th century Russian music. The first half of the concert consisted of two works I hadn't heard before, the "Romeo & Juliet" Overture by Pyotr Tchaikovsky and the Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergey Prokofiev. Although the former was certainly well-composed and featured some enjoyable melodies, I couldn't help feeling it was little more than late-Romantic fluff.

The Prokofiev Concerto seemed more interesting. Its colourful, chromatic harmonies and the way it oscillated between the gruff, the lyrical and the humorous showed considerable inventiveness. Soloist Freddy Kempf played the very difficult, often rather percussive piano parts with effortless virtuosity and a shade of affectation. I can't say the work left a great impression on me at this occasion, but it might well grow on me.

The reason I went to the concert in the first place, however, was Dmitry Shostakovich's 5th Symphony. Written under pressure of the Soviet government to abandon his Avantgarde tendencies, it's one of the composer's most conventional and accessible works (and also his most popular). Yet, unlike the empty propaganda of Symphonies Nos. 11 and 12, it still has strong undertones of the dark anguish and sarcasm that is so characteristic of him. Is it possible to interpret, for example, the dance-like bars in the Allegretto as anyhing but scathing satire?

It is, as conductor Daniele Gatti proved. His Shostakovich was devoid of all bitterness and pungency and thus severely lacking dramatic tension. This style of interpretation might also be the reason the first two compositions didn't work so well for me: someone who manages to smoothen most of the edges of a Shostakovich piece would probably leave none in a work that has less of them to start with. What Gatti succeeded very well in, however, was bringing out the positive, humane aspects of the Symphony. Under his sensitive direction, the RPO explored the more lyrical passages with great warmth and emotional depth. Their highly transparent playing also left nothing to be desired. All in all, it was a concert with too many flaws to be brilliant, but enough merits to be interesting.