Page 269 - Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Coverage Book 2023-24

Classical Pride 2024, at the Barbican CREDIT: Matthew Johnson
A zippy opener, new commission, compact concerto, contemporary work and short symphony with
chorus – at first glance, this could have been be any other mixtape-style Barbican concert. But
there were rainbow lights winking around the stage and the podium was wrapped in the LGBTQ+
flag. The sartorial choices were brighter, sparklier. I smoothed my own sequinned combat trousers
and caught the eye of another person wearing the same.

This was Classical Pride, the second instalment of Oliver Zeffman’s cleverly conceived celebration.
Last year’s concert, also at the Barbican, with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra was –
surprisingly – the first event of its kind in Europe. Sunday night’s performance was the
culmination of an expanded five-day series, featuring musicians from UK conservatoires,
community choirs and another first: Classical Drag.

Copland’s rousing Fanfare for the Common Man heralded the arrival of compère Nick Grimshaw.
Classic FM’s idiosyncratic gala concerts and uneven Proms broadcasts have long shown how
difficult it is to provide snappy context for complex music but Grimshaw’s informality generally
worked well, guiding newcomers and pinpointing the programme.

As music organisations struggle against a tide of funding cuts at national (for example English
National Opera) and local (CBSO) level, Zeffman’s ability to secure growing support is all the more
impressive. It has enabled several Classical Pride commissions from major composers, including
Good Morning, Beauty by Jake Heggie, which received its premiere here. Pumeza Matshikiza’s
creamy soprano whipped up the joyous love song, with Bernsteinian flourishes from the orchestral
accompaniment (Barbican house band the London Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Zeffman).

Having performed at last year’s event (with his partner Samson Tsoy), Pavel Kolesnikov returned
as the soloist in Saint-Saëns’s second piano concerto. The virtuosic, showstopping opening is
tempered by the dreamy second theme and a humorous, scurrying finale. Kolesnikov proved a
balletic pianist – in Tchaikovsky’s Valse Sentimentale, his arms danced into the space above the
keyboard, never to the detriment of his technique.