Review: Dresden Philharmonic – Usher Hall

My first encounter with the Dresden Philharmonic proved a pleasure this 21st April, 2024 at the Usher Hall. A highly dramatic programme began with a piece new to me, Mussorgsky‘s Khovanshchina Prelude, composed around 1873 for a vast historical Opera which would be ‘completed’ posthumously from his notes by both Rimsky-Korsakov and Shostakovich.

The piece’s strong narrative sensibilities are immediately evident, the hushed strings, and melodic woodwinds very clearly summoning daybreak to open this evening concert in fine style. The sun duly rose with the truly lush strings of the Philharmonic, the report of horns signalling the end of night’s watch. Evidently delighting in this musical act of creation, conductor Stanislav Kochanovsky summoned church bells before the dawn chorus slipped away, in expectation of a singer and a song.

The pre-interval main event followed, a performance of Mendelssohn’s ever-popular Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64. I will not the first to name the Concerto their gateway drug to the world of classical music, but my inner 12-year old thrilled at the first iconic notes from Soloist Maria Ioudenitch’s fiddle. What an agile player she is, her fingers nimble, her tone and colour first rate. It’s clear why she’s garnered quite so many awards, and a recording contract to boot.

That said, the Concerto was played at rather a lick, and though Ioudenitch more than held her own, it took a little of the dramatic heft from the opening movement. However the Andante second movement was played with immense romance, whilst the closing Allegretto non troppo – Allegro molto vivace proved delightfully effervescent. I’ve seen conductor/solosits with more chemistry, but there was no doubting the Dresden Philharmonic’s delight in providing a rich canvas for Ioudenitch to decorate with her virtuosity.

The post-intermission was entirely devoted to Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6, his last, also known as the Pathétique Symphony. Played with immense sympathy, and carefully tamed emotion, this was a terrific, and affecting success. The brass section in particular roared like tame thunder during the 3rd movement, Allegro molto vivace, and given the audience’s uncontrollable applause (whether due to not knowing a 4th movement was coming, or otherwise), I reckon Kochanovsky could have rallied the lot and stormed the Brewdog across the road from the Usher Hall, and liberated it from its dark Tory overlord.

More seriously, the conductor revealed himself a superb weaver of texture and nuanced sound. The super-powered strings, powered by a splendid Double-Bass section were never allowed to sweep the rest away. When the final, sombre notes faded to dark, and Kochanovsky’s battonless hands fell slowly to his side, the auditorium sat in hushed contemplation before the first of many claps rang out.

Featured Image: Andrej Grilc

For more information on the Dresden Philharmonic, click here.

For more information on Maria Ioudenitch, click here.