There was nothing Fawlty about the RLPO in last night’s performance—a real Touch of Class, you might say. In that BBC comedy classic, Sybil famously complained about her henpecked husband “listening to that racket”—prompting Basil’s comic rejoinder that it was Brahms’s Third racket. Perhaps she would have preferred his Fourth Symphony, one of the great Romantic masterpieces, brought vividly to life at Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall by debutant Estonian conductor Kristiina Poska.
The programme opened with little-known Swedish composer Ida Moberg’s evocation of dawn, traversed Sibelius’s elemental drama, and closed with Brahms at his most romantic and architecturally grandiose. All of it under the guidance of a left-handed baton—a rare sight, even in Liverpool, the city of famous left-handers: Paul McCartney, Mo Salah, and, for those of a certain vintage, the legendary Kevin Sheedy.
Moberg’s Sunrise began with radiant upper strings, evoking the tender hush of early morning light. Gradually, the orchestral texture deepened, woodwinds emerging like the warmth of the sun asserting itself. The piece followed a clear arc, returning at its close to the same ethereal string writing that had opened it—a cyclical journey from first light to full day and back again. A gentle but evocative opener, and a rare chance to hear Moberg’s work, which deserves far more frequent outings.
Sibelius’s Violin Concerto offered a stark contrast: rich, dark, and sonorous textures punctuated by the composer’s signature brass interjections. Young soloist Inmo Yang displayed astonishing agility and precision, with bow speeds that impressed both in rapid passagework and in sustained tones that demanded near-stillness. The third movement, however, felt occasionally breathless—not too fast, but somehow slightly rushed—and the orchestral interpolations could have grown more organically from the texture; as it was, they seemed more like interruptions than interjections.
Yang’s encore was a treat: an exquisite Baroque solo piece (maybe a Bach partita movement, recognisable but I couldn’t quite place it), delivered with elegance and intimacy—a concert violinist’s equivalent of a morning stretch, perhaps.
Brahms’s Fourth Symphony was a showcase for the RLPO’s excellent woodwind section, with standout contributions from principals Cormac Henry (flute), Helena Mackie (oboe), Miquel Ramos Salvado (clarinet), and Rebekah Abranski (bassoon), not to mention the consistently assured Timothy Jackson (horn). Both individually and as a blended texture, the winds were superb.
If the third movement again suffered from a touch of breathlessness, the fourth—Brahms’s famous Bach-inspired passacaglia—was a monument to the controlled building of tension and its subsequent release. Built around a thirty-times repeated 8-bar motif (no complaints here, unlike long-suffering cellists in Pachelbel’s Canon), it surged toward a storming climax, a testament to the composer’s ingenuity and the orchestra’s engaging storytelling.
From Moberg’s sunrise to Brahms’s monumental symphony, Kristiina Poska guided us through a programme that balanced Nordic colour and lyricism with Teutonic structural depth. In a city steeped in musical legacy, this was no mere racket—it was music that cast light: clear, lasting, and quietly radiant.
Reviewer: Mark Humphreys
Reviewed: 23rd October 2025
North West End UK Rating: