Review: KARINA CANELLAKIS CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN, Royal Festival Hall

American Karina Canellakis, the London Philharmonic Orchestra's principal guest conductor, delivers an exhilarating evening at the Royal Festival Hall with her assured handling of Edward Elgar's Violin Concerto in B minor, UK premiere of Dai Fujikura's Radiance and Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor.

Elgar composed his famed Violin Concerto in the early 1900's while staying near Rome and then at his home, Plas Gwyn, in Hereford. Canellakis leads the superb LPO in a precise and tidy manner (all the players are on her baton) and bearded, pony-tailed German violinist, Christian Tetzlaff – who's out to show the British how it's done. He ambitiously attacks Elgar's English pastoral concerto as only a virtuoso can.

Fiendishly difficult for a soloist to play (the great Austrian, Fritz Kreisler, was the first to pull it off at the concerto's London premiere in 1910), Tetzlaff cracks it in a breathless, muscular performance – including a lyrically intense second movement with growling trombones and then horns behind delicate strings.

Tetzlaff, unaccompanied by the orchestra, keeps concert goers happy with a delicious encore of JS Bach's hauntingly beautiful Sonata No 2 (Andante) in A minor. Just when you think he's stuttering to a halt, he carries on boldly with exquisite phrasing.

It's admirable to champion new works, so hats off to the LPO for performing co-commissoned Radiance by composer Dai Fujikura, who was born in Osaka and then emigrated to England at the age of 15. A piece "echoing" Beethoven isn't hugely Beethoven-esque, but there's a pleasing ambience of ringing chimes and the timpani is in dialogue with the strings. Timpani player Simon Carrington's on fire here and piccolo playing by Stewart McIlwham's also noteworthy.

More players mount the stage for Beethoven's Symphony No 5. Canellakis dedicates this performance to Swedish-American conductor Herbert Blomstedt, who died yesterday at the age of 99. She certainly sends him off in style, lending the Fifth Symphony a dazzling energy, fluttering the fingers on her left hand in softer moments and using her swaying body to communicate with the orchestra more energetically when the pace increases.

The Fifth Symphony was a big statement piece for Beethoven, as he was struggling financially when he wrote it, points out Canellakis in a video talking about his famous symphony. How does he top his third symphony, The Eroica? "I think he wanted to show the public something good is triumphing over a doomful fate. So, you hear in the beginning its in C minor, and you don't know which direction it's going to take." Although the first movement's so familiar, Canellakis adds that "it's important to try to listen to the Fifth Symphony as if you're hearing it for the very first time, recreating that shock and that sense of the unknown".

From a dramatic start – with lovely work from the horns, a soaring flute solo by Juliette Bausor, the inclusion of hard timpani sticks (instead of felt) and Baroque trumpets that take us deeper into Beethoven's world – this is a rendition to remember. And there's a truly dynamic Canellakis leaping up and adroitly making the transition (along with the magnificent LPO) to the jubilant C major climax. As you leave the Southbank you feel invigorated, your batteries recharged by being in the company of such remarkable talent.

Karina Canellakis next conducts the London Philharmonic Orchestra in Beethoven's Piano Concerto No 4 and Mahler's Symphony No 1 on November 6 at the Royal Festival Hall. The LPO 20126/27 season runs until 24 April 2027. lpo.org.uk

A recording of Karina Canellakis conducts Beethoven can be heard on BBC Radio 3 on 19 January 2027 and will be available for 30 days after that on BBC Sounds.