PATRICIA KOPATCHINSKAJA IS MORE OF AN EXPERIENCE THAN A MUSICIAN AT THIS POINT AND I HOPE TO SEE HER AGAIN IN MY LIFETIME

By Emma Carney | Bunny Pudding · Digital Coven · @bunnyscopes ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | Press Invite

Sibelius’ elemental Fifth Symphony is paired with Shostakovich’s explosive first violin concerto with the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the breath-taking concert with Patricia Kopatchinskaja.

I had no idea how I would handle watching an orchestra live. Let alone the London Philharmonic Orchestra but it was on my bucket list after watching the Proms as a child. My adhd brain worried that I may get overwhelmed or feel awkward having to sit and listen without fidgeting for a few hours, potentially annoying the audience or musicians. This concern was not needed as from the second the orchestra set up and started performing their first notes everything else around didn’t matter, or even exist. I transcend somewhere and I would very much like to go there again. 

When watching a live orchestra there is always something to look at, so if you’re worried about attending a performance like I was, worry not, your attention span will be fully captured and enraptured. Hearing a full orchestra live is also a next level experience, I cannot explain it but it was angelic to the senses. You may be a little tired afterwards though! 

Now, do I really need to explain how amazing the world famous London Philharmonic Orchestra is? I didn’t think so, but I was honoured that I got to watch them perform. They are truly next level musicians and performers and I was in awe. 

Now, for the star performer of the night, Patricia Kopatchinskaja. Be still my beating heart. My goodness, I truly believe that this woman becomes one with the music and I honestly couldn’t take my eyes off her as she performed. She was extraordinary. It’s beyond belief that anyone can play a violin like that but there she was playing like her life depended on it. I was spellbound. 

Described as a virtuoso, storyteller and all-round phenomenon, they weren’t bloody lying. Seriously. When that performance ended and we had an interval I had to take a minute to process what I had just witnessed as even I was exhausted and invigorated. 

‘Is it over or are we in an interval?’ I asked a confused audience member sitting near by ‘It’s my first time doing this sort of thing’. He explained it was the interval as he laughed and smiled, understanding how time has little meaning when you’re watching this sort of live performance – for people like us at least. 

As a performer, Patricia Kopatchinskaja always aims to reconstruct how the music was born in the composer’s imagination, reflecting all the astonishment, colours, emotions, surprises, joys and anxieties inherent to this process. Recreating the ‘first performance’ impression is one of the main objectives of Kopatchinskaja’s interpretation….and dear reader, she really, really achieved this as I was spellbound. It was like I was experiencing music for the first time. I was shooketh…and I wanna experience it again. If you ever get a chance to see her, run, don’t walk to get your ticket. I truly felt like I took part in some musical ritual and I was vibing very hard with it. 

When Patricia Kopatchinskaja came in and took her shoes off, I wondered why but after the performance I understood that it was so she could keep herself grounded and feel the music.It was amazing to witness the engagement between Kopatchinskaja and Edward Gardner, the Principal Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra as they truly worked together to bring the piece together. 

Gardener is also the Chief Conductor of the Bergen Philharmonic, a position he will relinquish at the end of this season. From August 2024 he will undertake the Music Directorship of the Norwegian Opera and Ballet (DNO&B). They are truly fortunate to be having him as watching him oversee the Orchestra was truly an adventure. Like many I knew that a conductor was more than a person with a ‘stick’ leading an orchestra but witnessing the job in action you realise how connected everyone is with each other and how the conductor’s job is to bring all the elements of the orchestra together into one pure sound. 

I loved the entire event, such as the excitement that happened the second that the musicians pulled their individual instruments close; the bows going up, the wind instruments pulled up to their lips…oooh I knew that something really emotional was about to drop and be added to the performance. Trying to spot which instrument was bringing which sound to the piece, was so invigorating…ooh take me back. 

If you can go and see the London Philharmonic Orchestra, do it! Patricia Kopatchinskaja is more of an experience than a musician at this point and I hope to see her again in my lifetime, she was that wonderful.

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Photo Credit: Marco Borggreve