Brahms and Janáček hit the mark, though lacklustre Lalo fails to score.

Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

September 1, 2014

This was a curious program but like any David Robertson musical menu, intriguing. Fundamentally back to front, it began with a symphony that conductors don’t like to finish with (as it ends quietly) and ended with a showstopper suite going by the name of Sinfonietta.

In between was a thing neither Symphony (despite its name), not quite concerto, despite the prominence of its solo part. This however was how concerts were often done in the distant past, and as always with Robertson there were subtle links between the sonorities of Brahms and Lalo, the bohemianisms of Brahms and Janáček, and the nationalist elements of all three.

As in his reading of Brahms’ Second Symphony a couple of weeks ago, Robertson proved an outstanding Brahmsian, alert to balance and phrasing, yet fundamentally determined to serve the dramatic structure of this multifaceted work. Less obviously ‘about’ things than its predecessor, Brahms Three is interpretively up for grabs – whether you hear nature or pilgrims or whatever. Here one was able to wallow in the rich sonics of the SSO and the emotional tug of...