Š He did much the same in a rip-roaring performance of Shostakovich’s somewhat dark and sombre Symphony No 10 in E minor. One can always sense the pained process of composition in this work but, thinking of the fearful political background as well as the artistic interference from apparatchiks, it becomes somewhat easier to understand.
Š Petrenko brought raw intensity to the first movement, a massive argument subsiding into anger in the second movement, played fortissimo almost throughout.
But at whom is that anger directed? Stalin? The state? Dictatorship? Artists themselves?
Š Petrenko let loose in the finale, whipping the RLPO into a cataclysmic statement which brought the audience to its feet.
Š On Wednesday, he said he wanted to improve the orchestra to be the “best in the world”. He’s doing that. And Liverpool audiences know that.
