Tanglewood Festival (2) : Beethoven, Marc-André Hamelin (pno) Daniel Hope (vln)  Boston Symphony Orchestra /  Jens Georg Bachmann, Tanglewood, Massachusetts  22.7. 2007 (CA)

All-Beethoven Program
Leonore Overture No. 3
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat, Opus 73, Emperor
Romance No. 2 in F for violin and orchestra, Opus 50
Symphony No. 7 in A, Opus 92

 

I like Beethoven as much as the next person and I had plenty of company this weekend as Tanglewood packed in enormous and enthusiastic crowds for an entire weekend of Beethoven. I attended the finale on Sunday, which promised Leon Fleisher playing the Emperor concerto. Unfortunately, he was forced to cancel (his wrists) and the much-lauded French Canadian, Marc-André Hamelin, was called upon for the same concerto.

Beethoven’s so-called Emperor concerto represents the pinnacle of Germanic-heroic composition and is the most popular of the concerti. The pianist must struggle both technically and artistically to bring off the performance. Here was a double opportunity for Hamelin, but alas, though he struggled, he did not conquer; nor did the orchestra, which seemed content to rest on its laurels. And while I had hoped for more, the afternoon’s pro forma performance with little subtlety or poetry did feature some crowd-pleasing bravura playing and no serious flaws.

It was that sort of afternoon for the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Jens Georg Bachmann, the BSO Assistant Conductor and a young man of impeccable credentials and performance pedigree, seemed stiff and the orchestra inattentive. He was like a conductor in a Hollywood movie; careful attention to the motions but little connection to the orchestra.

The program was pretty standard fare. It began with an overture, Leonore No. 3, the most often played of the three Leonores. Numbers 1 and 2 were performed in the two previous concerts. It was a straightforward performance with one nice touch. The off-stage trumpet was placed at the  outside edge of the Koussevitzky Shed. For the first solo, the trumpeter played out to the lawn, away from the orchestra, and for the second solo he turned and played toward the orchestra. This gave a genuine sense of approaching horsemen.

British violinist Daniel Hope, the current violinist in the Beaux Arts Trio (which performed Beethoven’s Triple Concerto the night before), played one of Beethoven’s earlier works, the Romance No. 2. It is an old-fashioned, by classical standards, crowd-pleaser, featuring not much more than a pleasant tune and some difficult violin work.

Hope grew up as a violinist studying and playing with Yehudi Menuhin and he has inherited the beautifully singing phrases of his late mentor. And while the performance was pleasant, it didn’t glow with any special kind of shine.

To finish off the program, a symphony, the Seventh, which is an interesting juxtaposition to the Emperor concerto. If the Emperor is the end of Beethoven’s heroic style and most productive years, then the Seventh symphony is likely the beginning of his late, more lyrical period marked by decreased output. So rather than heroes, Bachmann and orchestra are called upon for a different sort of thoughtful action—obviously there’s plenty of excitement in the Seventh, but it comes from its dance-like quality.

There were some lovely moments, but this Beethoven was not a lyrical dancer. Yet it’s hard not to love a Beethoven symphony played by a group that knows it as well as the BSO. 

Clay Andres

 

Back to the Top     Back to the Index Page