The programme might have looked conventional on paper but there was nothing safe about Klaus Mäkelä’s debut with the London Symphony Orchestra. The 28-year-old Finn, who in 2027 will take on the top job at both the Royal Concertgebouw and Chicago Symphony Orchestra, gave a turbo-charged demonstration of what all the fuss is about, concluding with an earth-shattering account of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
He opened on home turf with Sibelius’s Tapiola, a 20-minute evocation of the vast northern forests that ranks among the Finnish composer’s darkest utterances. Striding forth into the twilight with broad, confident gestures, Mäkelä swayed in time as woodlands thrashed and heaved, or crouched as if to brace himself against the musical onslaught. Physicality aside, this was an imaginative, rigorously crafted interpretation, which the orchestra conveyed in dazzling shades of grey – the tectonic rumble of the icy crescendo was overwhelming.
Prokofiev’s Second Violin Concerto, which followed, featured LSO leader Andrej Power. He certainly didn’t want for tone or character, playing with impressive intensity throughout, but tucked in close to the conductor’s podium, his focus was predominantly inward. A pity, for although the finale was a little sluggish, the tastefully floated slow movement over pizzicato strings revealed an exquisite silvery top to his sound.
Mäkelä has recorded Stravinsky’s ballet for Decca, but his performance here was on a whole other level. On the podium, he appeared to channel the music from head to toe. It was immensely theatrical, yes, but always backed by exceptional musicality. His dramatically alert reading was carefully paced and full of bold choices that brought out both the beauty and the primeval terror in the score, indeed, sometimes simultaneously.
From an impressionistic, hyper sensual opening (LSO woodwinds on outstanding form), no detail was too small to escape his attention. The Games of the Rival Tribes erupted with a chilling ferocity while a surprisingly funky Procession of the Sage wound up in Latin America. The visceral final thwack of the Sacrificial Dance concluded a spectacular performance from an orchestra on exceptional form and a conductor who exudes star quality.
