Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
BBC Philharmonic
Yan Pascal Tortelier

The BBC Philharmonic and its conductor laureate Yan Pascal Tortelier celebrated the centenary of William Walton. Walton's Cello Concerto, like Elgar's, is full of introspective solo passages that require the highest level of virtuosity. Tortelier's management of the slow first movement resembled a ticking clock marking the inexorable passage of time; later he emphasised the turbulent undertones of Walton's orchestration.

Cellist Guy Johnston breezed through it. In a long section for cello only, in the immense final movement, his display of harmonics, double-stopping and pizzicato immersed within Walton's elegiac expressions were breathtaking. The role for solo cello climaxed in a passage resembling both a Bach invention and a Haydnesque cadenza, and the fading moments of the concerto, with Johnston sustaining his instrument's lowest C, were spellbinding. Walton's work may not be on a level with Elgar or Dvorak, but this performance made a very persuasive case for it.

David Vickers