Barbican, London
Clemens Schuldt kept the volume high in an inconsistent evening in which the BBC Symphony Orchestra ranged across Tchaikovsky’s Hamlet, Mel Bonis’s Ophélie and a suite from Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier
Performances aside, this somewhat frenetic concert could have benefited from a sharper curatorial eye to bind together its disparate works. Fortunately, Joseph Phibbs’s cello concerto, written for Guy Johnston and here receiving its world premiere, brought its own musical cohesion, distinguishing itself in an otherwise uneven programme.
Scrupulously crafted, its five contrasting movements basked in a warm tonality and boasted a multihued orchestration with rich, fluent string writing and imaginative effects in wind, brass and percussion. Emerging from gentle double bass pizzicatos and cushioned cellos, Johnston’s solo line, pensive and unshowy throughout, was neatly framed thanks to Clemens Schuldt’s mindful control over his BBC Symphony Orchestra forces.
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