London Philharmonic Orchestra, Craig Ogden (guitar) Jaime Martín (conductor)

Unseasonably cold outside, the Dome was scorching inside. Falla’s 2nd Suite from ‘The Three-Cornered Hat’ was full-blooded with vigorous Spanish passion and a richness of sound that just isn’t heard from the ballet’s orchestra pit. The concerto, Rodrigo’s ‘Fantasia para un gentilhombre’, gave us stately Baroque dance tunes but still with plenty of Iberian spirit. Craig Ogden’s relaxed command of the auditorium suited the aristocratic style.

In Prokofiev’s ‘Romeo & Juliet’ the orchestra expressed so many temperaments: majestic, flirtatious, lyrical menacing and impassioned. The intensity of volume and the clarity of the silences in ‘The death of Tybalt’ was outstanding.

Dome Concert Hall, 16 April 2016
Rating:
Andrew Connal