Review: THE LSO AT BOLD TENDENCIES, Peckham

Experiencing art in a former car park is never going to get old - cold perhaps - so I was glad to return to Bold Tendencies to sample their 2025 season titled Déjà vu.

The performance I saw was also a debut; “a special evening of works for strings” performed by the London Symphony Orchestra. The programme of four works was devised by Benjamin Marquise Gilmore - violinist and Leader of the LSO - and saw Gilmore take up the role of Conductor from his first Violin chair. This feat alone was worth attending for. Without stating the obvious; how talented musicians are, with their innate musicality and sensitivity to their surroundings.

The concert opened with "The Day Dawn (1999)" by Sally Beamish, and the evening's atmosphere was set. The blurb discusses the death of a child of one of Beamish’s closest friends…and knowing this one hears quiet grief throughout the composition. Beamish is able to communicate emotion through her work, specifically (to me) how thoughts might sound and feel. It was a great opener.

Second was "Concerto For String Orchestra (1948)" by Grażyna Bacewicz. This was my first Bacewicz piece, and the sophistication and solid structuring rang clear. The work is energised so allowed the LSO to demonstrate their rich timbre, and who doesn't enjoy pizzicato? The most elegant of alarms - making sure any audience member isn't allowed to drift off!

If honest, the reason I came was to hear "Serenade For Strings in C Major, Op. 48 (1880)" by Tchaikovsky. As a huge ballet fan, this piece of music is very important to me as it's the score of George Balanchine's seminal 1934 work Serenade. The LSO's performance didn’t disappoint, and once again, the work feels like a sonic journey of raw emotions. Knowing the ballet quite well gives the score so much movement, even when it isn't there. But how interesting therefore to witness the choreography of the orchestra as they play instead; the dynamic bowing and upper body swaying, all saturated in deep emotion. Thank you Pyotr Ilyich for the gift that keeps giving.

Closing the evening was "Entr’acte (arr. for String Orchestra - 2011)" by Caroline Shaw. I've only recently discovered Shaw and this second work continues my thinking that she's a truly exciting composer. Shaw has the skill of creating more than one world in her music. She offers recognisable melodic phrasing that suddenly shifts into an alternate reality - as if the bow is slipping off the strings or the whole instrument starts to melt. Her work also looks like a technical challenge for the player, which the entire orchestra seemed to be lapping up.

As I listen to Shaw I realise I have a permanent half smile, caused by simply not knowing what's going to happen next and the awareness that the experience is truly experimental in both the composition and the listening of the work. I encourage all to engage with the opening few bars of "Entr’acte" if nothing else, just to contemplate the depth of melodic expression that Shaw is capable of.

After a warm reception the orchestra gave us an extra treat of the first "Liebslieder Waltzes (1868)" by Johannes Brahms. This unscheduled addition pretty much says it all. We sat, listened, and maybe shivered a little (thanks Autumn nights) as elegant music swirled around the Concrete Concert Hall. The distant rumble of a train or flutter of a pigeon not taking away from the experience, but rather adding to the soundscape and reaffirming the bizarre but brilliant circumstance that is Bold Tendencies.

London Symphony Orchestra performed at Bold Tendencies on 30 August. Their current season continues until 19 September.