Wiener Konzerthaus: Concertgebouworkest with orchestral splendour
Pizzicato
21.02.23
photo: Markus Aubrecht
The Concertgebouworkest from Amsterdam also made a stop at the Wiener Konzerthaus on its European tour with Paavo Järvi. Uwe Krusch listened to how they interpreted Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony and, together with Lisa Bathiasvili, Beethoven's Violin Concerto for Pizzicato.
Whereby the keyword of concentrated listening was quite appropriate in the first part of the concert. First of all, the orchestra and Järvi created a musical landscape in the broad exposition of the violin concerto, in which they took care to place the emphasis on the Ma no troppo and less on the Allegro in the movement designation. Or, to put it another way, they had the time to look into all the nuances and shadings and let them develop. In reference to the terms fine and coarse motorists, one could say here that they offered the work for fine listeners and not for coarse listeners. Minute tempo adjustments towards a somewhat fluid vision from the short bassoon sequence, for example, ensured a sustained tension.
Lisa Bathiasvili, with her equally sensitive playing and luminous tone, fitted in with this specification and developed from it a subtle interpretation of the work. She was able to live out the dynamic gradations, especially the softest playing, in harmony with the orchestra. She had chosen Alfred Schnittke's cadenzas for this work. These are characterised by the special note of the Russian-German composer on the one hand and also by his intensive reference to the concerto, as with the adoption of the timpani motif and theme to form a dense link.
The Larghetto was also deliciously lived out in the appropriate tempo ration to the Allegro ma non troppo, before the Rondo. Allegro, a lively dance-like tempo formed the conclusion.
As a dedication to the earthquake and war victims in Turkey- and Syria and Ukraine respectively, the strings of Johann Sebastian Bach played the Air from the Third Suite for Orchestra, with the first violins represented solo by Lisa Bathiasvili. In their interpretation, they carefully laid bare the lines of the work and steered clear of pining expressions.
The 5th Symphony by Sergei Prokofiev was then the work which, apart from the great qualities of the piece in and of itself, is also a delightful bravura piece for any large symphony orchestra. Here, every register group and every instrument can really show off. A combination of unplanned circumstances then led to an impairment of the reviewer's listening experience. In what was in itself an excellent seat, the notes of the tuba, and there are many of them in this work, were piled on top of the listener. This was probably a result of the instrument's seating position and the reflections from the hall. To pre-empt the question, the tuba player's playing was not only flawless, but excellent. But the acoustic impact was truly beguiling, or rather numbing. But that was only one small aspect of the overall experience.
Järvi ordered the orchestral events in the four movements of the work with as sure a hand as he did interpretative sense. It was worth remembering that European orchestras are often said to have a greater opulence of sound than their American counterparts, while ensembles on the other side of the pond are usually perceived as more technical, clearer and crisper in sound. In this sense, one could hear the European reading in the Concertgebouw Orchestra's playing, which sometimes seemed a little too juicy in the interplay with the large orchestra. A more crystalline presentation would have given this music an added advantage.
Apart from that, the orchestra with its instrumentalists and the conductor knew how to present themselves in the best possible way. Whether woodwinds or brass, strings or percussion as well as piano and harp, all mastered their tasks with bravura. Thus they created an expressive and powerful symphony that left a lasting impression on the audience.
Probably to continue the somewhat mournful mood of the symphony or to cool the spirits after the orchestral surges, Concertgebouw and Järvi gave Valse triste by Sibelius as an encore after the already tone-rich evening, effective but not languishing.
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