Reviewed at De Doelen, Rotterdam on 15th October 2022
The Mason Bates Piano Concerto, premiered earlier this year by the Philadelphia Orchestra, set the scene with sustained violin harmonics before the orchestra burst forth into an American Irish-folk sound world with highly syncopated drum rhythms, folk harmonies and banjo-like pizzicato strings. Trifonov played with the greatest of ease while the Wild West of cross rhythms and contrasting textures whirled around him.
And so to the highly anticipated premiere of the Roukens Symphony no. 1 with the sophisticated third movement entitled Night Flight. This was one of the most exciting movements in a work which is essentially a series of montages auditioning to feature in the latest David Attenborough documentary.
This is a symphony in a very modern sense and the audience loved it.
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