The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, one of the world's oldest, performed a wide-ranging concert at the Proms under the baton of Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons. The programme featured works by Arvo Pärt, Antonín Dvořák, and Jean Sibelius, showcasing the orchestra's versatility and depth.
The evening opened with Pärt's Cantus in Memoriam Benjamin Britten, a six-minute tribute composed in 1977. The piece, which pits undulating string scales against the sombre toll of a single bell, emerged from a poignant pianissimo and built to a powerful conclusion under Nelsons' direction.
Isabelle Faust, a late replacement for Hilary Hahn, delivered an organic and sensitive reading of Dvořák's Violin Concerto. Her sleek, silvery tone and fluid phrasing highlighted the work's Romanticism and folk idioms, with a poetic delicacy that avoided showboating. The central adagio was warmly spun, while the finale's spirited Czech furiant showcased her filigree fingerwork.
Nelsons proved a surefooted guide to Sibelius's Second Symphony, pacing the work well despite occasional loudness. He teased out internal dramatics in the opening movement, while the andante featured baleful bassoons over a determined pizzicato tread. The scherzo was tense and bracing, and the finale was imbued with weight and nobility through deftly broadened tempi.
