Hushed intensity

Elgar, Brahms and Strauss in Derby,
reviewed by MIKE WHEELER

Pairing the youthful vigour and optimism of Elgar's Froissart Overture with his autumnal Cello Concerto was a neat piece of programming. The Hallé's Assistant Conductor, André de Ridder, directed a spirited performance of Froissart, full of electric energy and warm, expansive phrasing. The piece does tend to ramble, though, without a firm hand on the tiller, and this performance didn't quite succeed in holding it all together.

Ridder and the Hallé's partnership with Alban Gerhardt in the Cello Concerto was outstanding in every way. Gerhardt impressed with the quiet dignity and strength of his playing, producing a rounded, even tone throughout the whole range of his instrument, and avoiding undue emoting. The heart of the performance was the slow movement, which withdrew further and further into Elgar's private inner world with a hushed intensity that kept us all on the edge of our seats.

After the interval, Brahms's Tragic Overture, in a reading of granite-like strength, made an intriguing upbeat to Strauss's Tod und Verklärung. This was a powerful account, savouring all the richness of Strauss' score, the opening charged with quiet expectation, the dramatic central section fiery and dynamic, and the surging climaxes of the ending allowed to bloom without over-indulgence.