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AND HEARD CONCERT REVIEW
Beethoven, Mozart and Schubert: John Lill (piano), Munich KlangverWaltung Orchestra, Heinrich Schiff, Cadogan Hall, London, 17.11.2008 (BBr)
Beethoven: Coriolan Overture, op.52 (1807)
Mozart: Piano Concerto in D minor, K466 (1785)
Schubert: Symphony No.9 in C, The Great (1825)
With the indisposition of the orchestra’s conductor, Enoch von Guttenberg, we were robbed of Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, but Heinrich Schiff directed a brisk Coriolan Overture which, if not as dramatic as one would have wanted, got things off to a good start. John Lill was a restrained soloist in Mozart’s D minor Concerto, one of the only two he composed in minor keys, and one of his darkest works. The orchestra supplied the drama and Lill was poised and elegant, sitting at the keyboard with minimal movement, no histrionics from this man, which made his musical outbursts all the more exciting and spectacular. The slow movement had us gasping at the delicacy of his invention, simplicity itself and not a nuance missed in this oasis of calm between two, overtly operatic, pieces. Lill imbued his playing with a sunlight missing from the rest of the work and this made the seeming desperation of the finale all the more intense. We know Lill to be a fine Beethovenian and his understanding of that later master’s works helped him to imbue this work, the only Mozart Concerto Beethoven played, with a sense of the coming of a new age. This was pianism of the highest order.
Schiff’s view of Schubert’s final symphonic masterpiece was quite refreshing and revelatory. Starting the opening Andante at a faster tempo than one would have expected I wondered how he would manage to make it work in relation to the Allegro ma non troppo of the main body of the movement. I need not have worried for this music burst forth and raced along with strength and power, only relaxing slightly for the second subject, but never dropping the tempo, and creating a powerful and incisive performance. Because of the fast tempo, the coda, which should be in a spritely one–in–a–bar, was slightly rushed, making it loose some of its dance–like qualities, but with the re–appearance of the opening theme the music was held back and matters were concluded with firmness and decision. The slow movement was likewise taken at a slightly faster tempo than we normally hear – more a brisk walk than a quiet stroll – but Schiff and his players made sense of the music and it spoke clearly and directly, with superb leadership from principal oboe Jürgen Evers. The scherzo was a very rustic peasant dance, with a delicious ländler trio, and the finale was an helter–skelter race in a very fast tempo which never let up in its excited rush to the finish line.
The Munich KlangverWaltung Orchestra was founded in 1997 and is made up of the leading players from the Berlin and Munich Philharmonics, the Munich, Stuttgart, Hamburg and Hanover State Operas, the Salzburg Mozarteum, Deutsche Oper Berlin and the Deutsche Oper am Rhein as well as several German radio orchestras, so this is a crack orchestra delivering performances of a standard not heard too often in this country. The virtuosity was jaw–dropping.
A most satisfactory evening, and one which the packed hall will remember for some time to come.
Bob Briggs