Page 360 - Liverpool Philharmonic 22-23 Season Coverage Book

Before that, Witold Lutosławski’s Little Suite offered a taste of the folk influence
which Domingo Hindoyan promised would pervade the whole programme in his genial pre-
concert address, while spotlighting an array of excellent individual and sectional playing,
most memorably from the upper woodwinds and snarling brass in the final dance. By
contrast, the strength of the Schumann lay in its gentleness and the most carefully crafted
interplay between soloist and orchestra. The concerto’s dreamy opening floated out with
exquisitely well blended warmth, setting the tone for a thoughtful and superbly musical
reading. The orchestral strings responded in kind to Ólafsson’s playing, his supreme
lightness of touch matched by theirs, rarely rising to more than a muscular forte.

The slow movement introduced some watery sunlight in its simple innocence, all the while
Hindoyan overseeing meticulous matching of the orchestral sound to Ólafsson’s delicate
articulation. Latterly, the finale continued in similarly lithe approach, the music never forced
but flowing organically onwards. The last minutes sparkled with well-judged bravura, closing
an utterly convincing account of the concerto. In response to a rapturous audience
response, Ólafsson offered his condolences on the day’s football results for the city,
followed by a remarkable arrangement of the Adagio from JS Bach’s Organ Sonata no. 4 by
way of commiseration. With his unwavering control and careful phrasing imitating the sound
of the organ with remarkable success, the piano has seldom sounded less percussive, and
rarely has an encore been so superbly complimentary to the main course.

If the Schumann had been the very model of restraint, Tchaikovsky’s Fourth Symphony was
the polar opposite. With horns intriguingly placed to Hindoyan’s right and timpani in their
place high above the violins to the left, the wall of sound from the brass was floor-shaking
from the first blaring ‘Fate’ fanfare. Hindoyan conducted scoreless, instead devoting his
energies to demanding ever more and more from his players. The first movement tempest
burned with fiery fury, though he still found time to highlight little details such as the
ghostlike viola accompaniment to the second theme. The ascents to some thrillingly joyful
climaxes came via impeccably coordinated accelerandos and heady crescendos.

The inner movements offered brief respite, though the haunted rubato of the oboe and rich
string sound in the second and dizzying pizzicato of the third maintained the sense of
evolving drama. The sudden march-like interjections from the woodwinds in the Scherzo
were delivered with irrepressible swagger, and it was heartening to see string desk partners
smiling to one another as they battled their way through dense pizzicato. The Finale
erupted out of the blocks at breakneck speed, percussionist Graham Johns leaping to his
feet in synchrony with his first cymbal crash. Hindoyan’s rejection of even a gasp of breath
before the second theme added to the breathless pace with electrifying effect, and the last
bars charged into the buffers with throttle wide open.