A great start with the LPO’s latest composer-in-residence George Benjamin’s Ringed by the Flat Horizon, successfully launched in 1980 at Cambridge University and then the BBC Proms, both conducted by Mark Elder, eerie and atmospheric, with an expressive profile that carries a debt to Birtwistle, and two long-term promises: that this ominous eighteen-or-so-minute piece would erupt stormily and that Sir George (as he now is) would go on to compose further masterly pieces if not dwarfing Ringed (which Boulez took up), here freshly remastered by the LPO and Ed G (who included it in Cleveland concerts during 2022) with intense cello contributions by Kristina Blaumane, The Beethoven didn’t entirely hold my attention despite Yefim Bronfman’s flawless/dynamic playing and a lively/flexible accompaniment, although his encore, Schumann’s Arabeske, was magical. My second ‘Tchaik 5’ in less than a week was also gainfully employed in not being taken for granted, with well-judged tempos, clear detailing (including a bassoon solo in the first movement more Nutcracker than Symphony) and with string and brass tones that suggest EG is developing the LPOs palette of timbres in a distinctive and beguiling way. So, a poised horn solo (Annemarie Federle) in the second movement, balletic lilt and lightness in the third, and a Finale not rushed off its feet but aiming for the final four (here) punched-out chords: a door slammed in the face of Fate. Related: the LPO label has just released ‘Tchaik 5’ (& 6) with Karina Canellakis. More anon.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m002jtfk