BBC Philharmonic/Gruber

HK Gruber succeeded James MacMillan as the BBC Philharmonic's composer/conductor at the beginning of this season, and his first major concert brought inevitable intimations of change. The worldly pluralism of his work, ideologically rooted in traditions of interwar modernism with its mixture of the avant garde and the demotic, is the antithesis of MacMillan's severe, polemical Catholicism. The programme, which had overtones of a personal credo, flanked the UK premiere of Busking with Weill's Little Threepenny Music and Stravinsky's Symphony in Three Movements. Written for Håkan Hardenberger, Busking is a trumpet concerto, Gruber's second. The orchestral scoring, in which banjo and accordion are prominent, alludes to New Orleans street bands, though Hardenberger and Gruber, true to the title, went out busking locally during the build-up to the performance. The outer movements, almost flippant in their virtuosity, are sharply contrasted with the central largo, in which a long, sinuous flügelhorn melody hovers over bluesy throbs and sorrowing accordion flourishes. It's too long for its own good, though Hardenberger, looking cool in a frock coat and thick-rimmed glasses, played it with a combination of brilliance and sleazy charm. As a conductor, Gruber is in his element when it comes to Weill's quintessential mix of Bach and ballroom, and his performance of Little Threepenny Music was louchely sensual and classically poised. The Stravinsky, meanwhile, sounded dark and heavyweight, but was thrilling in its rhythmic precision and exactitude. The BBC Philharmonic's response to Gruber is tangibly enthusiastic: the partnership is off to a fine start.