Borodin's rip-roaring Polovtsian Dances ought to make a spectacular opening to any concert. Yet, on this occasion, they were neutralised by the lack of ambience and resonance in Harrogate's International Centre. Although the flutes and bassoons of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic were clear, and the music was perceptibly close to the audience, there was no bloom on the orchestra's usually lush strings, and the exposed brass sounded fragile.
This was a crying shame. Conductor Nikolai Alexeev had clearly intended to say interesting things with this programme of popular Russian works. The Borodin dances were unleashed with swagger, but the articulation of the music was unusually balletic. The dry sound made it seem too much like easy listening.
Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto was worse affected because the hall made it impossible to maximise the subtlety in the orchestral balance, with every sound being even, equal, mezzoforte and confined. The opening of the first movement was brittle and lacked atmosphere. It was very difficult to discern dynamic shading and eloquent phrasing, although the players were clearly doing everything in their power. However, this situation enforced a remarkably direct and unaffected dialogue between the orchestra and soloist Dmitri Makhtin that was utterly compelling.
Makhtin anticipated Tchaikovsky's musical argument instead of merely reacting to its hurdles. His performance was exceptional: the brilliant cadenza to the first movement featured an awesome demonstration of double-stopped glissando, stunning harmonics and dizzying fast passages that were like rapid artillery.
Alexeev came into his own with an intelligent performance of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 6. The first movement began in a portentous manner, with its brooding lower strings eventually making way for scampering woodwind. The RLPO tackled Tchaikovsky's tempestuous sentiments head on, reminding us why this symphony is nicknamed "Pathetique".
Alexeev ensured that the second movement was graceful and understated. His sensitive use of silence in the sombre last movement was touching (shame about the fortissimo air conditioning). If the International Centre made the texture seem like it had undergone liposuction, this remained an attractive, lean performance. In a real concert hall, this would have been a Pathetique to cherish.
