CONCERT REVIEW: La musique des Lumières
"La musique des Lumières"
by Christophe Huss
Le Devoir, 8 août 2005
Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Symphony No. 3 "Eroica." Viktoria Mullova (Violin), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Conductor: Paavo Järvi. Lanaudière Amphitheater, Friday, 5 August 2005. Broadcast by the radio station Espace Musique on 30 August 2005.
BY CHRISTOPHE HUSS
"Paavo Järvi arranges his orchestra very intelligently by placing the violins opposite each other, the timpani positioned on the right, the double basses at the rear on the left, next to the horns. That is what Klemperer sometimes did. The results can be noticed immediately, thanks as well to an orchestra roster of approximately forty musicians – passing the phrases among the strings (when have you ever heard a dialogue between the second violins and violas in the Finale of the "Eroica"?); the clarity and charisma of the woodwinds; the effect of the timpani struck with a very dry stick.
Paavo Järvi demonstrated on Friday that he, along with Osmo Vänskä, is one of the truly great conductors of his generation. His art continues a tradition that was believed to be lost – that of Antal Dorati, Hermann Scherchen, Charles Münch, and Paul Paray. It was probably inevitable that some day a "true master" would transform the eloquence of the Baroque specialists into music. Paavo Järvi is the master in that respect. His Beethoven is uncompromising, terse, trenchant, and, above all, clear. He does not let himself be made a fool of by some tradition or other and does not become slower when the music is soft – for example, in the pizzicatos in the Finale of the "Eroica," which are absolutely a tempo.
Järvi proves himself to be a "true master" in that his Beethoven is not rhythmic in a simplistic way (in the style of Gardiner) or aggressive (in the style of Norrington). He enjoys shaping the music, especially with precise crescendos, distinct accents, and tiny but still consistent pianissimos. There is an excitement with him, even in the least tangible nuance. This formula, which was applied in the Violin Concerto, gives us a transformed Larghetto (second movement) that regains its true pulse, which in this work is the equivalent of what Casadesus and Rosbaud recreated in the "Emperor" Concerto. With this first-rate accompaniment, Viktoria Mullova merely had to indicate her own sonority throughout the work, without ever overtaxing it.
One could cite many other examples of important ideas, but I would never forgive myself if I did not develop one of them in more detail. The "Eroica" Symphony is definitely a revolutionary work, but it does not appear out of nowhere. Under Paavo Järvi's direction, one hears a real march in the second movement, emphasized by the timpani. From the standpoint of sonorities, one is right in the midst of the French music of the revolution. It is Gossec, it is Méhul in a sublimated form – a Beethoven who is the heir to the Enlightenment. It is astounding, clear, and obvious – I have never heard it like this.
"After the final chord, my neighbor, an 80-year-old, whispered to his wife, 'That was one of the greatest things I ever heard in my life.' I did not only attend the concert of the year, on top of that I sat next to a wise man!"
by Christophe Huss
Le Devoir, 8 août 2005
Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Symphony No. 3 "Eroica." Viktoria Mullova (Violin), Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen, Conductor: Paavo Järvi. Lanaudière Amphitheater, Friday, 5 August 2005. Broadcast by the radio station Espace Musique on 30 August 2005.
BY CHRISTOPHE HUSS
"Paavo Järvi arranges his orchestra very intelligently by placing the violins opposite each other, the timpani positioned on the right, the double basses at the rear on the left, next to the horns. That is what Klemperer sometimes did. The results can be noticed immediately, thanks as well to an orchestra roster of approximately forty musicians – passing the phrases among the strings (when have you ever heard a dialogue between the second violins and violas in the Finale of the "Eroica"?); the clarity and charisma of the woodwinds; the effect of the timpani struck with a very dry stick.
Paavo Järvi demonstrated on Friday that he, along with Osmo Vänskä, is one of the truly great conductors of his generation. His art continues a tradition that was believed to be lost – that of Antal Dorati, Hermann Scherchen, Charles Münch, and Paul Paray. It was probably inevitable that some day a "true master" would transform the eloquence of the Baroque specialists into music. Paavo Järvi is the master in that respect. His Beethoven is uncompromising, terse, trenchant, and, above all, clear. He does not let himself be made a fool of by some tradition or other and does not become slower when the music is soft – for example, in the pizzicatos in the Finale of the "Eroica," which are absolutely a tempo.
Järvi proves himself to be a "true master" in that his Beethoven is not rhythmic in a simplistic way (in the style of Gardiner) or aggressive (in the style of Norrington). He enjoys shaping the music, especially with precise crescendos, distinct accents, and tiny but still consistent pianissimos. There is an excitement with him, even in the least tangible nuance. This formula, which was applied in the Violin Concerto, gives us a transformed Larghetto (second movement) that regains its true pulse, which in this work is the equivalent of what Casadesus and Rosbaud recreated in the "Emperor" Concerto. With this first-rate accompaniment, Viktoria Mullova merely had to indicate her own sonority throughout the work, without ever overtaxing it.
One could cite many other examples of important ideas, but I would never forgive myself if I did not develop one of them in more detail. The "Eroica" Symphony is definitely a revolutionary work, but it does not appear out of nowhere. Under Paavo Järvi's direction, one hears a real march in the second movement, emphasized by the timpani. From the standpoint of sonorities, one is right in the midst of the French music of the revolution. It is Gossec, it is Méhul in a sublimated form – a Beethoven who is the heir to the Enlightenment. It is astounding, clear, and obvious – I have never heard it like this.
"After the final chord, my neighbor, an 80-year-old, whispered to his wife, 'That was one of the greatest things I ever heard in my life.' I did not only attend the concert of the year, on top of that I sat next to a wise man!"
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