Stravinsky loses his savagery in this rite

It’s inevitable that yesterday’s outrage is taken for granted today but there’s an inherent risk that something of the revolutionary edge will have been lost. Last night’s performance had little sense of risk or rhythmic anarchy: this was a virtuoso orchestra knocking off a repertory piece with minimum effort. Maazel is not a man to make himself sweat and his mechanical gestures drew a tame performance from his players.

There were certain virtues. In the opening sections, there was clarity and balance in the orchestral textures and Maazel’s pacing and restrained dynamics suggested something potent being held in reserve. But not even in the riotous Dance of the Earth that concludes the first part were any primeval instincts unleashed. As no one was out of breath, there was no need for a conventional break between the two parts and Maazel ploughed on into The Sacrifice.

The sense of ritual was well evoked here and the sounds produced — the voicing of the dissonances, the blaring brass — were suitably searing. But the terrifying, orgiastic aspect of the score went for nothing. The New Yorkers also brought a new piece by Steven Stucky, Rhapsodies for Orchestra. An effective display piece, perhaps, but lacking substance.

In that sense it was a suitable prelude to Gershwin’s Piano Concerto, which offers characteristically jazzy harmonies and terrific tunes without threatening to get too serious. To his credit, Maazel made the concerto sound less vulgar than it often does and Jean-Yves Thibaudet contributed an elegant, unflashy reading of the solo part. The second encore, a Hungarian Dance by Brahms, positively dripped with Gipsy style. Was it me, though, or was the schmaltz artificially applied?

www.bbc.co.uk/proms.

BBC Proms: New York Philharmonic/Maazel
Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore, SW7 2AP