"Neglected genius" is one of the themes of the BBC Philharmonic's new season, which also marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the Bridgewater Hall. The number 10 consequently loomed over this Gianandrea Noseda concert, which juxtaposed two 10th symphonies, both unfinished at their respective composer's deaths and posthumously reworked by other hands. Luciano Berio's Rendering, his "restoration" of the sketches of Schubert's 10th, was followed by Deryck Cooke's completion of Mahler's great fragment. Some might question whether either work belongs in a series about neglected genius, though the refusal of some conductors to perform Mahler's 10th complete means we don't hear it often. This was also, for many, the first opportunity to experience Rendering live.
Berio's aim was not to expand Schubert's sketches but to fill the missing sections with what he called "delicate musical cement", much as an artist might repair a damaged fresco. The score glides between genuine Schubert and a spectral sonic miasma, in which thematic fragments alternately coalesce and fade. It's a haunting piece, in which Berio uncannily captures the darting brilliance of Schubert's mind as it passes from idea to idea, and Noseda's performance combined mercurial elegance with moments of passionate assertion as Schubert's own music flies free of Berio's unearthly textures.
Noseda's Mahler 10, meanwhile, is a great interpretation in the making rather than one that has been perfected. He dragged us with him on a vast, purgatorial journey before resolving the score's tensions into a sense of peace beyond both resignation and neurotic striving. The tricky first scherzo - many assume Mahler would have rewritten it had he lived - wasn't as fully integrated into the work as it might have been, and an overlong pause before the final movement broke the momentum. These are minor flaws, however. Once they have been ironed out, this will be a Mahler 10 that is second to none.