Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra / Mariss Jansons
Barbican
NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover / Andrew Manze
Symphony Hall
At the end of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony Mariss Jansons asked the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra to stand up, and they refused. That’s not something that occurs in every concert; in fact, you might never see it happen. But this act of low-key mutiny is about the highest tribute an orchestra can pay to a conductor – to decline credit for the applause, handing it over in its entirety to the old maestro standing in their midst, looking shattered. A few moments later, Mitsuko Uchida presented Jansons with the Gold Medal of the Royal Philharmonic Society, but that gesture from the band was the real accolade. No man is a hero to his valet, and as a rule orchestral players are quicker to damn than praise.
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