Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra – St George’s Hall
IT WAS Bradford’s turn last Friday to welcome the Russian State Philharmonic Orchestra and their much-loved conductor Valery Polyansky, now on tour given steering performances of Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev and Rachmaninov.
The former’s March Slav and 5th Symphony was so successful that the orchestra gave us the perfect encore: the wants from act two of Sleeping Beauty, in true Russian style, before scuttling off with a noisy modern piece.
Star event of the evening, however, was unquestionably Peter Donohoe’s performance of Rachmaninov’s 3rd Piano Concerto.
A joint winner of the 1982 International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow, Donohoe gave a devastating performance which left us breathless and cheering.
This reminded me of other Moscow winner, recently acclaimed genius John Ogden who died tragically in 1989.
The fairly large number of empty rows of seats on Friday, however, was the more disappointing for so great an artist as Peter Donohoe! Come on Bradford.
The Bradford International Orchestral Season continues on November 28, with the Brussels Philharmonic performing pieces by Borodin, Sibelius and Saint-Saens, featuring violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky and conductor Michel Tabachnik
Bradford Festival Choral Society will present a traditional family Christmas concert on December 20.
Call bradford-theatres.co.uk or call 01274 432000 to book tickets.
John Pettit
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here