On Tuesday 21 October we commenced our 2025–26 Vasily Petrenko x Royal Philharmonic Orchestra series at the iconic Royal Albert Hall.
A concert which ‘under the sensitive direction of conductor Vasily Petrenko, it seemed a proper masterpiece.’
Read the ⭐⭐⭐⭐ review from The Telegraph
Vasily Petrenko led a powerful programme of Puccini’s Preludio Sinfonico, Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms and Mahler’s Symphony No.1, ‘Titan’.
All photos © Andy Paradise
Puccini’s Preludio Sinfonico provided an intimate opening to the evening. Stylistically, it is almost impossible to pull the distinct influences apart with Wagner’s hallmark descending, chromatic strings, then we are plunged back into the sunny world of Puccini’s Italian contemporaries, Mascagni and Leoncavallo.
The performance continued with Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, featuring treble Edward Scholes and the Philharmonia Chorus. By 1965, eight years after the premiere of West Side Story, Bernstein was ready to get to work on another hit musical. Instead, he turned his attention to a proposal he had received two years earlier from the Very Reverend Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral in Sussex, England, requesting a new work to premiere at their festival in August 1965. Hussey, in his letter to Bernstein, wrote that ‘many of us would be very delighted if there was a hint of West Side Story about the music’.
A highlight of the work is the second movement. It appears reserved by comparison to the first, the treble soloist’s purity contrasting with the bombast of what preceded it, having a striking effect. Edward Scholes gave ‘a trembling expressivity which was deeply touching.’
The final movement begins with a heady swathe of rich string writing – close-knit, dissonant and deeply expressive, as heartfelt as anything Bernstein ever wrote. It draws to a close with the hushed final prayer, its sense of hope left hanging in the air: ‘Behold how good, and how pleasant it is, for brethren to dwell together in unity.’
The equally exciting second half saw a powerful performance of Mahler’s Symphony No.1, ‘Titan.’
It exists in at least four different versions, and was originally presented as a symphonic poem in two parts, comprising five movements rather than four. ‘It is the most spontaneous and daringly composed of my works’, Mahler wrote. ‘Naively, I imagined that it would have immediate appeal… How great was my surprise and disappointment when it turned out quite differently.’ The programmatic work features themes borrowed from his song cycle, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer), to illustrate the hero’s journey through life and death.
At the climax of the piece, the horns stood up for the final resounding fanfare, described by the composer as 'a chorale of salvation from paradise after the waves of hell.'
Vasily Petrenko wore bespoke concert attire designed and tailored by dunhill – the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s Official Luxury Clothier, embroidered with elegant edelweiss as a nod to our performances of Mahler's symphonies this season.
Vasily Petrenko will be back conducting another mighty Mahler symphony, No.6, at the equally mighty Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday 18 March 2026.