Rather like the London Philharmonic’s Beethoven cycle
earlier this year the Philharmonia’s has also suffered from the loss
of its scheduled conductor – in this case Wolfgang Sawallisch. The replacements
– Charles Mackerras for the first two and Marek Janowski
for the third – proved in their own ways revelatory, making the indisposition
of Sawallisch less regrettable than it might have been. What would have
been even more desirable, however, would have been a cycle under the
orchestra’s current Music Director, Christoph von Dohnanyi: in the past
he has conducted some astonishing Beethoven on the South Bank.
Mackerras and Janowski approach Beethoven from opposite
polar angles, although both it should be said owe something in their
interpretations to period practise. If this is more obviously the case
with Mackerras who rightly divides his first and second violins (imperative
in the Eroica) and uses brass sparingly, neither are slaves to historical
performance traditions. Mackerras took a long view of the Eroica, although
in doing so some of the natural warmth of the Philharmonia’s string
sound became dissipated. Rather than that breadth of sonority this orchestra
can bring to Beethoven we had a clearer, leaner sound, perfectly in
keeping with Mackerras’ fleet tempi. The string sound was all the more
astonishing given that Mackerras had the orchestra play some time after
his beat. This meant that the opening E Flat chords had less weight
than is usual, and yet the concentration of tone, the intensity of the
drama were as ideal as they should be. More impressive was Mackerras’
innate ability to take the work not as an isolationist set of granite
blocks but to give genuine expressiveness to the dynamic markings. Forte
and fortissimo were distinct in sound. Impressive also was his
handling of the Funeral March taken with a measured steadiness. When
it came to the vast fugato climax (still one of the greatest things
in any symphony) the drama disintegrated more powerfully than in any
performance I have recently heard of this symphony live.
Mackerras’ Beethoven is above all else spontaneous
– and the Allegro molto supplied ample evidence of this. His opening
performance of the Egmont Overture had these virtues in abundance also,
but it ultimately lacked the sheer virility of a Koussevitsky or a young
Celibidache. The Egmont needs a firebrand in charge and Mackerras was
not quite fired enough.
If Mackerras had given the Philharmonia a leaner string
sound then Janowski brought Teutonic weight to their sound. The violins,
bunched to the left, played with deeper tone than they had done in the
Eroica, but most impressive were cellos and double basses which were
sinister in the darkness of tone they displayed. The performance itself
was swift, less mannered than one might have expected from Janowski,
a conductor schooled in the traditionalist mould. If anything the playing
was more impressive than it had been for Mackerras.
Each concert had a concerto thrown in for good measure.
Mackerras had Murray Perahia as soloist in Beethoven’s
First Piano Concerto. The performance was little short of astonishing
with Perahia displaying an elegance and care for dynamic markings which
had been sadly lacking in Brendl’s performance of the Emperor concerto
with the LSO last month. Perahia’s finger-work was note perfect, his
trills glittered and the panache he brought to the long cadenzas was
simply stunning. This was great playing by any standards. As if this
were not enough, proving that lightening often can strike twice in the
same place, Frank Peter Zimmerman’s performance of the Beethoven
Violin Concerto was itself a small miracle. The tone was gorgeously
sweet, but above all this was a performance which gave the concerto
a sublime lyricism. In a work that can often seem over long, notably
in the first movement, this was a performance which held the attention.
Gripping playing.
It is likely that Sawallisch will be well enough to
complete the cycle later in the year but these concerts beggar the question
whether there are conductors of sufficient greatness to undertake a
complete cycle with evenly expressed results. Under a single conductor
it is unlikely the results would have been quite so impressive as they
were. Moreover, one wonders why orchestras see a need for complete Beethoven
cycles when there are other cycles less frequently heard such as those
of Dvorak or Tchaikovsky.
Marc Bridle
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