Simon Rattle was part of our musical fixtures and fittings but since he became the Berlin Philharmonic’s chief conductor in 2002, his visits have acquired special status. Not for him simply turning up with a suitcase of greatest hits. There has to be a reason to be here. For this week’s Festival Hall concerts, there are two: the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, and Schumann’s symphonies.

It’s a winning combination. The OAE’s watchwords are clarity and transparency. Since they are the very qualities Schumann’s four symphonies are accused of lacking, it is the ideal orchestra to play them. Perhaps the boldest is the Fourth, especially in its original form, now the preferred choice of many conductors, including Rattle.

He had drilled his players well but knows when to let them loose. Rhythms were punchy, solos etched with character. A hint of rawness, particularly in the wind instruments, was permitted, even encouraged.

The Second (written after the Fourth) is more nearly conventional but the performance showed the same clean attack and sense of shared endeavour: when leader Matthew Truscott broke a string, he swapped instruments with his neighbour; she restrung the fiddle and handed it back. A small token of the flexibility that makes the OAE a delight to hear and to watch.

This was Schumann refreshed. Perceived problems of structure and texture simply melted away. The process continues tonight with the First and Third Symphonies.  
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