Of all the Britten works aired during this centenary year, the Op 68 Symphony for Cello and Orchestra is among the least frequently heard. Written 50 years ago for Mstislav Rostropovich, it has been associated with the cellist ever since he first performed it the following year in Moscow, with Britten himself conducting. It not only stands outside the mainstream Britten repertoire, but is beyond the reach of most cellists.
This performance on Britten's home territory of the Snape Proms was all the more welcome for being in the hands of the Hungarian cellist Miklós Perényi, with the Maltings acoustics affording the best possible perspective on its soundworld. Perényi's fabulous tone, notably in the upper strings where the voice could not be more different from Rostropovich's characteristic projection, brought a reflective dimension to the work that helped balance its darker, forbidding intensity. Perényi's formidable technique afforded every note extraordinary clarity, so the musical arguments within its complex fabric could emerge. Yet it was hard not to be struck by a strong sense of everything that Rostropovich stood for; the music is uncompromising with glimpses of dancing playfulness, quirkiness and joy. The modest Perényi embraced it all.
Conductor Robin Ticciati and the Britten-Pears Orchestra, eloquent partners in the Britten, then played Bruckner's Fourth Symphony. The international makeup of the B-P Orchestra, with its talented young musicians and, significantly, the cream of tutors, ensured a finely calibrated rendering. Colours resonated luxuriantly in the Maltings, allowing luminous string tone to vie with the full orchestral sound. Ticciati rightly offered special thanks for the excellent horn solos of Francisco Gómez Ruiz and the brass section as a whole.
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• This review was amended on 12 August 2013. An earlier version said that the orchestra played Bruckner's Eighth Symphony. That should have been the Fourth Symphony, and has been corrected.
