
The LSO members needed for K453 had also been witnesses to Uchida’s homage; thus with Robin Ticciati leading a buoyant accompaniment, stylishly played, she went on to give a crisp and shapely account of a very different Mozart work, the urbane G major Piano Concerto. She was ‘first among equals’ – woodwinds were certainly to the fore – winningly proactive on behalf of the music, corners immaculately turned, the first movement sparkling with good intentions. At the end of the piece, the buffa finale, taken at a genuine Allegretto, was frisky and gallant, also a little roguish and with something saved for the rambunctious and witty coda if via shadows and still reflection, themselves an echo of the slow movement that had been searched for optimum expression and with something operatic unveiled.


With the LSO in knockout form, not least woodwinds (oboist John Anderson, no relation, outstanding), Ticciati led a bullish account, a little too consciously moulded and emphatic at times (rather losing the music its spontaneity) and very richly sounded in the strings (a shame the violins were no longer antiphonal, maybe a consequence of the platform layout for the Kaner), rather too much so for all the impressive depth and polish. Such vibrancy robbed the first movement (with exposition repeat) of its finer points if not its ebullience. The slow one though had a nice flow and was certainly soulful, and Ticciati deftly handled the slightly quicker transition into the scherzo, itself given with earthy vitality. Yet the music would have responded more to even quieter pianissimos, to less hectoring timpani, and to lines painted sometimes in watercolours rather than continual heavy oils (light and shade was at a premium). If there is greater subtlety and more-refined poetry to be found within this score’s pages, Ticciati came into his own with the drive and drama of the finale (in which just a few bars are given to a slinky bass clarinet – Dvořák was a great colourist); this quality for the theatrical and his accompanying skills suggest that Glyndebourne has made the right choice in making Robin Ticciati its next music director.