BBC Philharmonic Orchestra – Live Review – Hull City Hall
By Karl Hornsey, March 2025
The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra returned to Hull City Hall this week as the Classics season continued with a fantastically attended concert featuring the music of Sibelius, Grieg and Bruch, under the baton of chief conductor John Storgårds. Those present were rewarded with a stunning concert of well-loved favourites and the appearance of Elena Urioste for Bruch’s Violin Concerto.
First up though was Grieg’s Peer Gynt which, in its entirety provides the musical accompaniment to Ibsen’s play of the same name and is worthy of a concert of its own, but here we were treated to ‘only’ Suite No 1, consisting of four wonderful, varying movements. The suite opens with Morning Mood (you’ll know it when you hear it), followed by the incredibly moving Åse’s Death, depicting the death of Peer Gynt’s mother. Anitra’s Dance is the third movement, before what proved to be the highlight of the evening in my opinion, the truly remarkable In the Hall of the Mountain King, which the orchestra chuck the proverbial kitchen sink at as it builds to a fast and frenetic climax.
Following that was never going to be easy, but fortunately it brought to the stage Elena Urioste, acclaimed musician, writer, yogi and entrepreneur, who lit up the hall with her playing of Bruch’s Violin Concerto, as well as her rather majestic shimmering gold trousers. The piece has the distinction of being the first-ever number one in Classic FM’s Hall of Fame, and remained at the summit for five consecutive years before gradually sliding down the standings.
“Resounding success”
The concerto’s current popularity might well be as much a source of frustration to the composer as it was during his lifetime, as he became increasingly vexed that it overshadowed some of his other works and became the only thing that fellow musicians and admirers wanted to speak of. Urioste’s playing of the work is sublime, particularly in the energetic finale which ends the concerto on a beautiful high, and she also found the time and inclination to return to the stage for a brief cameo and a rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’.
After the interval, the scene was set for a double bill of Sibelius, the enduringly popular Finnish composer known for his rousing, nationalistic compositions – one of those being the Karelia Suite. Coming relatively early in the composer’s career, this was a resounding success, but soon morphed from a full overture into ‘merely’ a suite, and it was this suite that we had the pleasure of listening to here.
The cor anglais, in particular, was an absolute joy to hear in the Ballade, the second of the suite’s three movements. To close the concert, the focus shifted to Sibelius’s Symphony No 3, which was regarded as a turning point in the composer’s symphonic offerings, keeping matters relatively simple, while paring the instrumentation to the barest of essentials. This may explain why the piece doesn’t have the popularity or renown of some of his other works to this day, but was still an excellent way to round off another stunning concert by all involved with the BBC Philharmonic.
Images for illustrative purposes only
Karl’s love of writing was piqued at the age of eight, when he won a Blue Peter badge in an essay-writing competition. The location of said badge might be a mystery now, but the memory never fades. Hours spent writing about sport as a teenager, in pre-internet years when you had to make your entertainment, honed his skills, and Karl has worked in TV and radio listings at PA Media for 28 years, and the age of hybrid working means 50% of that can be at home listening to Classic FM and thinking about his next visit to his beloved Yorkshire Dales.
@KarlHornsey, hornskar
