SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Penderecki, Chopin, Stravinsky: NDR Symphony Orchestra, Krzystof Urbański (conductor), Rafał Blechacz (piano), Laeiszhalle Hamburg, 18.11.2010 (TKT)

Penderecki: Threnos (1960)

Chopin: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, op. 11 (1830)

Stravinsky: L’oiseau de feu (The Firebird), Ballet Suite for Orchestra No. 3 (1945)

Coincidence or not? The three works performed this evening all brought their composers fame at a time when they were still in their twenties, just like the two stars of the evening (whose behavior was so unlike that of stars), the conductor and the pianist.

Krzysztof Penderecki wrote Threnos before he became popular with less avant-garde compositions. Still, it did put his name one the map. The original title of the piece, 8’37”, indicates not only its intended length but also that the threnody, or lament, for 52 string instruments was not meant as program music, as the subsequent name change and added dedication “to the victims of Hiroshima” implies. Rather, it is a three-part experiment in sound. It starts fortissimo, with each instrument playing the highest note possible. The orchestra plays quarter-tone clusters (three or more consecutive tones on a scale, which in this case has twice as many notes as a chromatic scale) and includes percussive elements, with the instruments being given great individual freedom. In Part 2, the sounds are often broken up before Part 3 returns to clusters. The effect of all these techniques – many of them innovative at the time, including the notation – is of nearly unbearable intensity. The NDR Symphony Orchestra and its guest conductor created a constant sense of dread; it was as if the air had been shimmering and it was doubtful there was still life outside the concert hall. No wonder an early reviewer described the piece in words that prompted the composer to change its title and add the dedication.

Chopin wrote his two piano concertos before he embarked on a tour that was to establish his worldwide reputation as a brilliant pianist. Genius that he was, he created much more than virtuoso concertos. (Critics who join in with Berlioz and harp on the lack of sophistication of the orchestral part make about as much sense as if they were lambasting the work for not being an oratorio.) When Chopin taught his favorite student Carl Filtsch the piece many years later, the arguably most important part of the preparation was reading the score and – “Roman Catholic fasting.” I’m not sure Rafał Blechacz, the brilliant winner of the Chopin Competition five years ago, went quite so far, but there was a religious element to the exquisite beauty of the meditation as which he played the second movement. Throughout, his staggering technique was in the service of his interpretation, which focused on the melodic lines and the harmonic audacity of Chopin – elements often lost in demonstrations of mere virtuosity. The conductor played the orchestra perhaps a bit too matter-of-factly, but he, too, focused on the melodic lines, so that the overall impression was extremely satisfying.

Firebird was Stravinsky’s personal Chopin Competition: it catapulted him into the limelight 100 years ago. Commissioned by Diaghilev (after he had been rejected by several well-known composers), the ballet is based on two Russian fairy tales, one centering on Prince Ivan who spares the life of a magic firebird and one revolving around the immortal magician Kashchei. Here the prince falls in love with a princess held captive by the evil magician, whose soul the magic bird helps Ivan to destroy. Stravinsky wrote three orchestral suites based on his ballet, the third of which comes closest to the original – partly because it was intended for a different choreography and partly due to the composer’s desire to raise copyright income with this work in the U.S. Conductor and orchestra played this version with great sense of drama. Once again, the northern German audience dropped its proverbial reserve – it was enthusiastic.

Thomas K. Thornton