The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra’s recent performance at London’s Cadogan Hall on April 16, 2025, paid homage to a significant moment in British musical history. This carefully curated program echoed a landmark event from June 1939, when several British premieres were presented at the World’s Fair in New York, a showcase dramatically contrasted by the looming shadow of war that would soon engulf Europe. The orchestra, under the baton of Martyn Brabbins, recreated part of that historic lineup, offering a powerful evening of reflective and stirring music.
The evening opened with Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Five Variants of Dives and Lazarus, a work composed for the 1939 event. Scored for divided strings and harp, this late-period orchestral piece from Vaughan Williams weaves a series of paraphrases that unfold with quiet strength and subtle grace. The composition’s deeply evocative character, supported by one of the composer’s most luminous codas, allowed the RPO’s principal string players to shine through several solo moments, each adding a layer of intimate expression to the already rich texture.
Following this came Arthur Bliss’s Piano Concerto in B-flat major, a dramatic and challenging work originally composed for the pianist Solomon and frequently revived in the decades following its premiere. As this year marks the 50th anniversary of Bliss’s death, the performance served as a timely re-evaluation of a concerto that blends late-Romantic grandeur with nuanced introspection. The first movement opened with thunderous intensity, gradually revealing a sonata form that balanced rhetorical boldness with subtle emotional shading and contemplative turns of phrase.
At the heart of the concerto was pianist Peter Donohoe, one of the few contemporary soloists to keep this ambitious work in active rotation. His interpretation met the piece’s formidable technical demands with clarity and vigor, while also embracing its lyrical core. Brabbins, conducting the piece for the first time, navigated its complex textures with sensitivity, despite a few fleeting lapses in ensemble coordination. Donohoe’s expressive control was especially evident in the central Adagietto, where his restraint and tenderness set the stage for a finale that moved seamlessly from introspective beginnings to a rousing, affirmative conclusion. Bliss’s own doubts about the state of the world may have lingered at the time of composition, but this performance projected certainty and power, underlining the composer’s lofty artistic intentions.
While it was unfortunate that logistical and financial constraints prevented the revival of Arnold Bax’s Seventh Symphony—another work featured in the 1939 New York concerts—the evening’s finale more than compensated. Martyn Brabbins led the RPO through a nuanced and vibrant reading of Edward Elgar’s Variations on an Original Theme (‘Enigma’). The performance thrived within Cadogan Hall’s vivid acoustic, giving the shorter, more animated variations a palpable presence. The fourth (W.M.B), seventh (Troyte), and 11th (G.R.S) variations burst forth with bold energy, while the more lyrical passages such as the first (C.A.E) and fifth (R.P.A) were rendered with touching eloquence. The beloved ninth variation (Nimrod) carried a glowing intensity, and the 10th (Dorabella) played out like a charmingly hesitant intermezzo with a hint of whimsy.
Particularly memorable was the 13th variation, transformed into a deeply introspective romanza that momentarily elevated the piece into a space of quiet metaphysical reflection. Though the final variation (E.D.U) may have lacked the sonic grandeur afforded by organ reinforcement, as experienced in Brabbins’s prior performances at the Royal Albert Hall, the musical conviction remained unshakable. As the work built toward its climactic close, the audience was left with an unmistakable sense of triumph, the culmination of a program that honored the richness of Britain’s orchestral heritage while reminding listeners of music’s enduring ability to transcend time and circumstance.
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