Philharmonia/Salonen

Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra is ­performed so often it can risk being taken for granted. But there was nothing even ­remotely routine in this brilliant, ­riveting ­performance from Esa-Pekka Salonen's Philharmonia ­Orchestra. Salonen seemed to have stripped Bartók's late virtuosic orchestral work down to its component parts, cleaned them all thoroughly and put the whole thing back together, freshly minted under his iron control. Every bar and page seemed to have been thought out anew. Speeds, though often fast, never compromised the concerto's many moments of compelling stillness. The introduction was not just hushed, it tingled and shimmered on the edge of silence. Instead of the usual pell-mell rush of strings in the finale, these were both lightning fast and pinpoint accurate. Again and again, passages and ­orchestral sounds one thought one knew well came up illuminated with fresh colours and new inflections – a harp phrase given extra attack, the side drum more drily rhythmical, the second violins bringing new bite and propulsion to the final movement fugato. Similar virtues were in evidence in the first half of the concert, with a beautifully ­balanced account of the delicate and ­disciplined nine-movement Dance ­Figures by George Benjamin, who turned 50 last week. This was ­followed by a ­characteristically ­imperious account by Viktoria Mullova of ­Stravinsky's busy, ­beguiling and ­unsentimental violin ­concerto, an ­enigmatic work that suits her many strengths, as it does Salonen's. Is there a better orchestra in ­Britain than the Philharmonia? A more ­outstanding ­musician than Salonen? I don't think so. Others may get more ­headlines. In repertoire like this, though, Salonen and the Philharmonia are the ones to follow.