Andrew Manze and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic perform Vaughan Williams’s Tallis Fantasia and Ninth Symphony — with Simone Lamsma in the Britten Violin Concerto.
Programme
Vaughan Williams Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis
Britten Violin Concerto
Carmel Smickersgill A Brick Thrown with Love (BBC co-commission: world premiere)
Vaughan Williams Symphony No. 9 in E minor
Simone Lamsma (violin)
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Andrew Manze
Friday 4 September 2026 · 7pm–c9.15pm
Royal Albert Hall
Listen on BBC Radio 3 / BBC Sounds
Review
Right from the off Lamsma’s reading of Britten’s Violin Concerto has a distinct narrative line. The hesitations in the opening subject hint at melodrama. As the subject develops, so the quality operatic of Britten’s writing is made plain. This isn’t unwelcome. Each subsequent vignette feels earned, more deserved. A more thoughtful, more thought provoking, maybe even arresting interpretation ensues.
The contrast in the second movement’s opening material makes more sense as a segue live than a subsequent track in a recording. The top register solo line tracked with the piccolo solo has a deliciously tactile feel I’ve not heard before. The cadenza is fascinating in its awkwardness – tightly controlled freneticism, a complex character surfaced. After the strings, and later brass and wind, claw their way into view in the Passacaglia, the story of a tortured soul is laid bare. Come the conclusion we’re left hanging in glorious ambiguity. A performance for the introverted and reflected. Touching. And with an exquisite extended silence at the end.
This review will be updated in due course.
Gallery
Photography will be added once available.
