It is a brave orchestra that tackles Elgar’s Second Symphony several times in a single week. It has been over 50 years since I last heard this mammoth – when John Hopkins conducted the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Proms in March 1970 – and I was in no hurry to hear it again.
Except, perhaps, for a superstar conductor.
Vasily Petrenko conducts the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, 2022. Photo © Nico Keenan
Vasily Petrenko is one of the most exciting stars in the current firmament of international maestri. Born in St Petersburg, Russia, in 1976, he has a conducting resume, which belies his relative youth. Chief Conductor of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic (2006–2021) and Chief Conductor of the European Union Youth Orchestra (since 2015), he was also associated with the State Academic Symphony Orchestra of Russia, but has announced he will not appear in Russia during the current conflict with Ukraine. The 2021/22 season marked the start of his tenure as Music Director of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
On the podium, Petrenko cuts a youthful and dynamic figure, not given to gymnastic excess. His approach to the three scores in...
Vincent, I largely agree with your comments on the Laing piece and on the MSO under Petrenko. I thought his conducting was masterful; he gave clarity to the brass in the Elgar and persuaded me that this is a work worth listening to with more attention. I do hope he returns regularly. Perhaps he could become the MSO’s chief conductor after Martin? I don’t agree with your comments about Britishness and repertoire choice: would we complain about nationalism if we had a concert of Dvorak and Smetana or Schumann and Schubert? Surely we can admit that music transcends nationalism even if it uses characteristics of local folk song?