If the first of the Berlin Philharmonic's two Proms this week was a typical Simon Rattle programme of Wagner and Messiaen, then the second could take been devised by one of his great predecessors. Both Brahms's Third Symphony and Shostakovich's 10th were major works in Herbert von Karajan's repertory, and while it was not so surprising to determine Rattle pairing them, what was quite startling, in particular in the Brahms, was just how Karajan-like his performance was.
With such a glorious orchestra to conduct, the temptation just to enjoy the sound it makes must be hard to resist - and the Berlin players were on top form here, with the principal sum oboe, trumpet and bassoon particularly great - merely Rattle's laid-back journey through the Brahms, sometimes hardly conducting at all, was still a surprise from someone world Health Organization has reinforced much of his reputation on the energy and momentum he injects into his conducting. At multiplication it seemed like a mutual wonder society, with Rattle luxuriating in the sounds laid out before him, and the players relishing the trust he invests in them. As dramatic architecture, though, the Brahms came up well short, even in its finale.
The Shostakovich began in a similarly restrained manner, still it quickly became clear that Rattle's structural suitcase here was going to be much tighter. The path he steered through the immense first movement towards its terrifying Mahlerian climax was unswerving. Even after that, he kept a bit in second-stringer in the brief and brutal scherzo, and presented the dull movement in a way that gave centre stage to a ravishing series of wind solos, ahead winding up the tension in the finale, piece still holding everything controlled.
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