BBC Symphony Orchestra/ Oramo/ Son review – rainy days, rolling hills and enchanted creatures

Barbican, London
Judith Weir’s salute to the Indian monsoon kicked off a concert on nature and folk themes, Korean pianist Yeol Eum Son brought poetic flourishes to works by Bartók and Finzi, while the magical Firebird made a rousing finale

The environment took centre stage in a BBC Symphony Orchestra programme that journeyed from Judith Weir and the arid plains of India to Gerald Finzi and the rolling contours of the North Hampshire Downs. Bartók just about ticked the box thanks to the nocturnal sounds of the Hungarian steppe conjured up in his final piano concerto, while Stravinsky’s Firebird struts its stuff around the villainous King Koschei’s enchanted garden.

With Weir’s The Welcome Arrival of Rain, it was the notes on the page that came first. Only latterly did she associate the music with the arrival of the monsoon bringing much-needed water to the parched earth. Glittering fanfares swooped heavenwards answered by shimmering strings before tom-toms and timpani turbocharged an extended series of variations. Sakari Oramo ensured the orchestra shone, even if the promised deluge never quite materialised.