By Tim Ashley
Every so often in the musical world, a comparatively unknown quantity comes along and takes everyone’s breath away. Such was the case last week, when Ludovic Morlot – French-born, British-trained and better known in the US – made his debut with the BBC Philharmonic, conducting a ragbag programme of considerable difficulty. Part of the BBCPO’s Neglected Genius series, the concert was structured around Paul Dukas’s underrated ballet La Péri, which was placed alongside Stravinsky’s Fireworks and Ravel’s La Valse.Also on the bill were Harrison Birtwistle’s Night’s Black Bird and Mozart’s B flat Piano Concerto, K595.
