Page 256 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

like the call of a large cathedral bell, and the piano often called to
mind the sound of running water. Though there is no set narrative
behind Alberga’s concerto, it was nevertheless very emotive and it
was easy to let your imagination run wild while listening to create a
personal narrative to the highly dynamic music.

The three pieces performed across the evening flowed well
thematically and were flawlessly performed, in accordance with the
RLPO’s reputation. Bacchus and Ariadne is swiftly coming to be
considered a signature piece for Hindoyan after its inclusion in his
critically acclaimed 2022 debut album, and was the opener of the
evening. Composed in 1930 as part of the ballet Bacchus and
Ariadne, The Second Suite makes up the second half of the story,
where a distraught Ariadne throws herself from a cliff on the island of
Naxos after being abandoned by the hero Theseus, but is caught by
the god Bacchus. They fall in love, and she is eventually welcomed to
Olympus as a goddess. The piece has some beautiful, romantic
sections for strings that conjure up the swift, elegant rhythm of the
ballet dancers even when listened to in isolation, but is as
changeable and full of contrasts as the mischievous trickster god
himself, with some big, bold sections
interspersed. Shostakovich’s Symphony No.5 is the perfect
showstopper. It was composed in 1937 after Stalin himself
denounced the composer’s most recent opera. This symphony and
its reception was quite literally a matter of life and death for
Shostakovich, and this lingering threat can be heard throughout
with a dark, menacing first ‘Moderato’ movement including ominous
percussion and brass, as well as more mournful string sections in the
third ‘Largo’, before finishing with triumphant fanfare. It was a
rousing and moving listening experience that showed off the best of
the RLPO, making a bold finale to a highly accomplished evening.