Saint-Saëns's Organ Symphony doesn't have the emotional depth and sophistication of contemporary symphonies by Bruckner, Tchaikovsky or Brahms, but when performed with conviction and panache, it can be insidiously stirring. That was certainly the effect of Wednesday's performance by the City of Birmingham Symphony under music director Sakari Oramo.
This was also a test piece for the new Symphony Hall organ. On the whole, it passed with distinction. The quiet harmonies in the slow movement were romantically rich, and blended well with the orchestra; the thunderous full-organ chords of the finale were awe-inspiring. At the beginning of the finale, I thought the organ was microtonally flat compared with the orchestra, but am told it could have been because of where I was sitting. So the magnificent Symphony Hall acoustic has it quirks after all.
That aside, the Organ Symphony came across beautifully, full of reminders that Saint-Saëns was a marvellous orchestrator. Oramo and the CBSO highlighted the drama and lush lyricism but, as you'd expect from such a fine Sibelius interpreter, Oramo also made sure we felt the symphonic continuity. This was a performance with a purpose.
There was a similar feeling in Strauss's Don Juan, in many ways the most perfect of his tone poems. There was plenty of brilliant colouring and visceral excitement, but Strauss's surprise tragic ending was particularly effective. Under Oramo, Don Juan's thwarted quest for the ultimate climax became a gripping parable of romantic hubris and disillusionment.
Between these two gloriously extrovert works sat Schumann's more inward-looking Cello Concerto, once dismissed as a sign of his creative falling-off, and now widely revered as one of his most personal masterpieces. Principal cello Ulrich Heinen gave a measured and assured performance - emotionally restrained, but with a fine sense of the Concerto's subtly evolving drama. The cello- orchestra balance was almost ideal, partly due to Oramo and the CBSO's sensitive accompanying, but also a tribute to the designers of Symphony Hall. Quirks notwithstanding, it's still one of the most remarkable acoustics in the world.
