The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra divides its London concerts between the Royal Festival, Cadogan and Royal Albert halls, and the highlights of its concerts this season at the RAH are performances of Mahler’s three choral symphonies, conducted by its music director, Vasily Petrenko. The Second and Third will follow in the new year, but Petrenko began his mini-series with the grandest of the trio, the Eighth Symphony. It’s one of the few works in the repertory that’s ideally suited to the dimensions of the RAH, and, from the massive organ chord that launches the opening Veni Creator Spiritus hymn, the RPO’s imposing performance, with around 400 voices in the chorus, seven soloists and an orchestra of more than 100 players, certainly sounded as if it belonged there.
