LPO/Gardner Review – Squirrels, Shepherds and the Troubled Storm | Results for 2026

WWhat do you get if you blow up a tube full of water? With a little thought and the sound of a squirrel eating, the opening salvo between Trees and Kristine Tjøgersen. The Norwegian songwriter’s clever nature poetry drew on ancient techniques and new inventions, such as the stringed harp, as he led us deep into the forest to explore the mysterious filaments of fungi that connect the roots of trees and plants like a natural web.

Leaving the forests of Scandinavia, the London Philharmonic’s whistlestop travelogue pauses in the frigid center of France to hear Canteloube’s Songs of the Auvergne. Louise Alder was the soloist, the soft shimmer of her sweet soprano matching the singer’s harmonies. Edward Gardner it allowed the orchestra to light up a bit while pointing up the powerful instruments of the music. For him, Alder brought color and a gift for telling tales of loving shepherds, opportunistic young men and arrogant quails.

Our last stop was a poem in the Bavarian Alps and Richard Strauss’s powerful tone poem An Alpine Symphony. Opening with the sound of the mountain itself on four trombones and two tubas, the composer throws everything at the bar orchestra deep kitchen while trying to show nature in all its glory on a day. Gardner proved Baedeker the singer here, leading his merry band up and down the hill with big-boned voices and romantic sweeps. The LPO disturbed shady forests, steep waterfalls and a field of cows that you could smell.

Along the way, Gardner found a momentary calm, taking in the sights of the room despite the intense energy in the arena in front of him. He did not falter in the big moments, such as the vision inspired by the organ in the meeting. The storm that drenched the pilgrims as they returned to the ground was accompanied by the sound of drums augmented by wind machines and thunder. All that was left was to start the epilogue with a dramatic return to the original goal. People may pass, Strauss seems to be saying, but the mountain will go on.