Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, Lighthouse, Poole BLUE shirt hanging outside his trousers fresh-faced Benjamin Grosvenor plonked himself down in front of the Steinway. Just what sort of trick was this teenager about to pull?
A rare treat that left all the ice creams in this HSBC sponsored concert out in the cold. At 15 years old Grosvenor's maturity of purpose, emotionally and technically, gave full range to Chopin's youthful Piano Concerto No.1.
The gentle Romance conveyed here with a very real feeling for beguiling beauty and tintinabular timbre. His flawless fingerwork dispatched the virtuoso finale with audacious aplomb. Bravo.
Alan Buribayev, directing the BSO, also had a trick up his sleeve, making Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.3 as exciting as the St. Petersburg Express. Judiciously fine-tuning the initial stoke-up the resultant burst of power generated a full head of steam. Unfortunately Buribayev forgot to let go the throttle in the second movement and the panic-stricken passengers were hardly going to waltz down the aisle at this tempo.
Order restored bassoon and horn elegantly shared the honours, the succeeding Scherzo flashing through with splendid mercurial discretion. The finale's stirring string-led fugue and a blistering terminal peroration, the BSO players holding the rails on Buribayev's runaway train.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article