Lyricism and tenderness – plus a dash of politics?

BBC NOW Royal Albert Hall

The Proms season is only five days old, but it’s already the most politically charged season for many years. On the opening night, star pianist Igor Levit played as an encore the anthem of the EU, Beethoven’s Ode to Joy. Then two nights later came Daniel Barenboim’s speech against “isolationism”. He declared this was not a dig at Britain, but no one believed him. On Tuesday night, Scotland’s greatest musical export – violinist Nicola Benedetti – seemed to continue the trend.

For her encore, she played the “real” Auld Lang Syne, ie the folk tune that was originally sung to the poem by Robert Burns – “not the one you know”, she said pointedly. Was this the Proms’ Scot Nat moment? Perhaps, but Benedetti played it with such sweetly lyrical tenderness that it’s hard to see how anyone could have objected.

We needed some lyrical sweetness, after the severities of Shostakovich’s 1st Violin Concerto. It began with the violin’s long, angular line rising first out of the murky depths of cellos and double basses, and then struggling to reach the heights. It’s often played with a harshly intense tone, but Benedetti gave it an unaccustomed sweetness. Even at the moment when the line rises to a pitch of anguish, the violin perched high above harsh discords, she kept that seraphic tone.

Making a harsh sound just isn’t in her nature, which was something of a drawback in the savage second movement, and in the tremendous long cadenza that follows the slow movement. But she can certainly summon a headlong rhythmic energy, as she proved in the furiously energetic finale.

Prefacing the concerto was Shostakovich’s October, a 12-minute orchestral celebration of the 50th anniversary of the October Revolution. It was stirring and martial, and conducted by Thomas Søndergård, principal conductor of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, with driving energy. Much more taxing for him and the orchestra was Sibelius’s Second Symphony.

This fascinating transitional work in Sibelius’s output starts out in true modernist fashion, gradually gathering coherence out of bits and pieces. It ends with full-blown romantic affirmation, complete with brass fanfares. Søndergård managed the transition with intelligence and tact. The opening had a beautiful lightness of touch, the solemn tread of the slow movement never became plodding, and the scherzo flashed with delicious feathery delicacy.

Finally, there came the moment in the finale when the great brooding minor-key melody turned to major. It can sound overblown, but in Søndergård’s hands the bombast seemed radiant and moving.

Hear this Prom on the BBC iplayer. All the Proms are broadcast live on BBC Radio 3. Proms guide: bbc.co.uk/proms

‘It’s often played with a harshly intense tone, but Benedetti gave it an unaccustomed sweetness’