Symphony No 8 in C Minor
Anton Bruckner
Philharmonia
Lawrence Renes
Royal Festival Hall, 19 February 2026
This concert was billed as “Runnicles conducts Bruckner”. The bad news was that Sir Donald was ill and unable to appear. The very good news was that Lawrence Renes had stepped in to cover. I had never seen Maltese-Dutch Renes in action before and he is remarkable. He conducted Bruckner’s daunting, 75 minute symphony without a score. With second violins seated on his right and violas next to firsts he coaxed an exceptionally rich range of sound from this splendid orchestra. Another interesting seating idea was to position the tuba in the middle of the back row brass section rather than off to the side – and it changed the musical balance for the better.
I enjoyed the sustained energy of the upper strings in the opening movement and I liked the way Renes leant on the pulsating “peal of bells” theme in the second. The third movement, which seems to contain the whole of life and death, was played with all the requisite dramatic contrast from the triumphant cymbal clashes all the way to the poignant beauty of the violin solo (leader: Zsolt-Tihamer Visontay) at the end. And the Finale came with plenty of Brucknerian intensity highlighted by the very resolute timp work (Simon Carrington)
It seems to be a recent Philharmonia policy decision that each concert be introduced by one of its players. The problem with this is that being a fine musician does not equate to being a good speaker. At the start of this concert Scott Dickinson (principal viola), clearly nervous, spoke for too long, too fast and not always audibly despite the microphone. It would be much better simply to let the music speak for itself. After all there’s a free, information packed programme for every audience member.
Nonethess, this was a pleasing concert as well as a test of stamina which, of course, the Philharmonia passed with aplomb. Musicians often joke about heading enthusiastically for the pub/bar after concerts. They certainly deserved it on this occasion.
