Tarmo Peltokoski applied in Mahler, Lugansky conqueror in Prokofiev

Tarmo Peltokoski seduced us last year with his Ring without wordshe disappoints us today with this Symphony No. 5 by Gustav Mahler, preceded by Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 3 by Serge Prokofiev, with Nikolai Lugansky as soloist.

Great architect of this concert where it is difficult to find a unifying theme, Nikolaï Lugansky gives us, in the first part, a beautiful interpretation of the Concerto for piano and orchestra No. 3 by Sergei Prokofiev. Partly composed in France, in 1921 during his voluntary exile, it included three movements: a Allegro initial started by the small harmony which immediately allows us to judge the quality of the soloist’s playing, by turns pearly, leaping, percussive but without gravity, fluid, suspended between dreamy meditation and motor violence, but always virtuoso, carried by a balance and a certain complicity with the orchestra kept somewhat in the background by Tarmo Peltokoski; follows a Andantino made of a suite of five variations: light and enigmatic accompanied by the flute and the clarinet, more animated exalted by the trumpet, motoristic and obstinate supported by the orchestra, meditative, suspended and decanted magnified by the horn, percussive bringing together piano, ropes and tutti in a tight final joust; before the Cheerful but not too much The finale leaves the spotlight to the soloist in a virtuoso cavalcade, fluid and fiery, in a superb dialogue with the orchestra and especially the flute of Magali Mosnier.

Despite his young age and his well-known love for Wagner, Tarmo Peltokoski is a regular in the Mahlerian repertoire, a composer whom he regularly summons on stage: Symphony No. 1 in July 2023 at the Halle aux grains in Toulouse and opening of his mandate as musical director of the Capitole de Toulouse (ONCT), in September 2024 with the Symphony No. 2 called “Resurrection” by Mahler. This evening he reaffirms his Mahlerian fiber with the Symphony No. 5 at the head of the “Philhar” of Radio France, a phalanx against which he made his debut in France in April 2022, replacing his compatriot Santtu-Matias Rouvali at short notice.

Composed in 1901-1902, between the fear of death due to a recent intestinal hemorrhage and the joy of meeting Alma, revised several times, the first of the purely instrumental middle symphonies, Mahler abandons in this Symphony No. 5 any literal recourse to Wunderhornas well as any idea of ​​program music, to weave an immense orchestral patchwork, rich in colors and contrasts responsible for retracing the difficult and laborious journey from the darkness of the first movement to the radiant Light of the Finale: an almost initiatory progression which oscillates between pain and joy, between love and violence, between sublime and trivial, relying on profuse instrumentation and complex polyphony of which Tarmo Peltokoski, unfortunately, gives us a disappointing interpretation, too analytical, without soul, which struggles to bring together all the scattered elements into a coherent whole. Certainly, we could praise the rigor and the almost too applied precision of the implementation highlighting the beautiful soloistic performances of the Parisian phalanx, if these were not done at the expense of the continuity of the discourse, the progression and the tension reducing this symphony to a beautiful orchestral exercise without emotion!

Announced by a call of trumpet and horn, the Funeral march is rightly heavy, more elegiac and painful than terrifying, interrupted by fanfares with circus accents within a phrasing that is too strongly nuanced (dynamic and agogic nuances) which struggles to find its way. The second movement Stormy movingbreaks in an abrupt contrast with the stasis of the Funeral marchanimated by brassy assaults alternating with more lyrical passages on phrasing tinged with dramatism which at times seems somewhat confused, without a guiding line. Giving pride of place to the horn desk (we will regret the somewhat raspy sound of the solo horn which plays standing up as usual on this page) the Scherzothe pivot and turning point of the symphony, is divided between a ländler with popular sounds and an improbable, very danceable waltz, interspersed with pastoral parentheses. The famous Adagietto combining strings and harp seems strangely flat, without passion or depth, more lullaby than declaration of love addressed to Alma. Concluding movement nicely carried out, the final roundcompletes this chaotic, colorful journey in a victorious climate carried by a joy without shadows recruiting all the sections of the orchestra (small harmony, strings, brass), but it is unfortunately too late… Too bad.

Photo credit: © Peter Rigaud / Marco Borggreve

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