Saturday, January 24, 2026

Berliner Philharmonie, Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße, Berlin

‘The Unanswered Question’ (if without its Contemplation companion, ‘Central Park in the Dark’, which is usually the case) made for an ethereal opener, the trumpeter posing from on-high with a mysterious backdrop of mystical strings (a full complement on the stage rather than invisible) with an increasingly garrulous woodwind quartet (oboe, clarinet, two flutes; it’s often four of the latter). Maybe the Ives could have opened part two, the Dvořák stealing into the former’s silence. As it was, Lahav Shani trusted the ‘New World’ Symphony to be itself rather than off-loading interpretative novelties onto such an oft-played score. It was generally well done, the first movement (with exposition repeat, subtly varied on its second appearance) without sounding fully settled despite this being the third performance, although the second-movement Largo, with a shapely cor anglais solo, was spacious and sensitive, beautifully sustained, followed by an athletic Scherzo and a fiery and malleable Finale. Maybe Shani overdid the rhetoric of the culminating bars but the syncopated pay-off and fade were judged to a nicety.

As centrepiece, the ubiquitous Shostakovich VC1 with Daishin Kashimoto (one of the Philharmoniker’s concertmasters) as the impressive soloist. Like Shani would do with the ‘New World’, Kashimoto had no need to intervene on behalf of music that seems on a loop in terms of numbers of performances. Here the opening ‘Nocturne’ was darkly expressive, the atmosphere increasingly oppressive, countered by an edgy ‘Scherzo’ that developed into a delirious dance. The heart of the work is a profound ‘Passacaglia’ opened by thumping timpani and baleful horns, arresting, with much emotional intensity from the performers, Kashimoto sinking into the fragilities of the extended cadenza bit-by-bit becoming the launch-pad for the frenetic Finale that would have an exciting acceleration introduced into the last pages. No encore from the violinist, surprisingly.