Russian Roulette. Hit and miss Salonen

This was a cleverly conceived (if a little too long) programme of three 20th century Russian favourites combined with Tchaikovsky's inspiration based on Dante's Inferno. The combination of Petrushka and Francesca da Rimini promised sonic fireworks but it was Shostakovich's creations in the first half which proved more rewarding.The suite from his 1930 ballet, the Age of Gold, is a curious work. It's a bizarre story about a Soviet football team on tour in a capitalist country and the experiences it encounters as it takes on and presumably triumphs over western decadence. The music is a pot-pourri of styles and dances, from polkas and waltzes to an ardent central adagio in which a night club dancer tries, without success, to seduce the captain of the football team. The Philharmonia coped artfully with all the changes in genres and styles…