SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Mozart, Bruckner:  Andreas Haefliger (piano), London Philharmonic Orchestra, Gunther Herbig (conductor) Royal; Festival Hall, 26.11.2010 (GD)

Mozart: Piano Concerto No 25 in C, K503

Bruckner: Symphony No.9 in D minor.

Tonight’s concert opened with one of Mozart's grandest works in the classical concerto idiom. In this locus classicus of concerto form the opening orchestral ritornello is one of Mozart's most extended and complex, in terms of tonal contrast; C major, C minor, E flat and a concluding flourish on the dominant G. And with prominent trumpets and drums a note of festive solemnity is vividly projected. But tonight much of this bravura splendour was curiously missing. The notes were played but I had no sense of what Tovey heard as the resplendent anticipation of an imagined choir entering with the psalm Dixit Dominus, at the ritornello’s splendid conclusion. And throughout the whole concerto I heard nothing outside of a kind of foursquare competence. These problems were exacerbated by Herbig's decision to deploy non-antiphonal violins. Surely a left-right division of the violins is a sine qua non here since there is so much contrapuntal orchestral complexity? In the operatic, concertante-style sequences involving the woodwind in the first movement’s development section, and again in the opulent E flat dialogue between the solo piano and woodwinds in the second movement andante, the sound of the wind section, which phrased quite well, seemed peculiarly recessed. The elegant rondo finale lacked a certain elegance or swagger, although in the coda itself the free-rhythmed connecting links between the main sections attained a certain impressive unity in orchestral terms.

Throughout, Haefliger played quite well, although by the time we reached the first movement’s development section many cadences sounded untidy. And in the finale there was a lack of coherence both in his delivery of the solo part and in terms of his dialogue with the orchestra. As Mozart left no cadenza in the first movement Haefliger, as is customary, played his own cadenza, which was quite adequate.

After the interval we heard Bruckner’s Ninth Symphony. Right from the Misterioso opening, where the tremolo in the strings was hushed, but urgent, it was apparent that Herbig was on course and that he had the full measure of Bruckner’s monumental design. And what mastery of dynamics, and structure he had already displayed by the time the initial fff unison D minor tutti made its shattering effect. The tutti emerged, unfolded as if from within the music, rather than being imposed from without! Indeed here, and throughout the performance I kept thinking of that simple phrase which says so much; 'less is more'. Herbig achieved so much by simply playing and revealing what is there in the score. Similarly, when we reached the more lyrical second subject, beginning in A minor, the lyrical flow was not augmented by any kind of emotional overcharge, as so often is the case here. A minimum of string vibrato enhanced this feeling of inevitable flow. Here and there I could have asked for more dramatic projection as in the central, expanded re-statement of the great unison theme with spiralling ascending and descending string figurations: this is surely an inspiration that owes its origins to the organist Bruckner! Everything 'told' here, with superb balance between full brass and strings. In such passages, Herbig demonstrated a fine sense of overall structure, especially in the way he articulated the interlinking modalities, which condition those familiar Brucknerian terraced blocks of sound. The first movement coda, with its tonal shifts from D minor to E flat, and the final exposure of the 'archaic' bare fifth, had a wonderful sense of inevitability. The chromatic tutti dissonances never degenerated into mere anguished loudness; rather they always had a sense of proportional integrity in relation to the whole symphony.

Many recent commentators, including tonight’s programme writer, have suggested that the second movement scherzo may represent the composer’s view of evil. As a devout Catholic Bruckner no doubt had a specific idea of evil to do with traditional Christian definitions. But it is difficult to translate this in musical terms, the scherzo having a distinctly secular feel to it. And this applies despite the composer’s proposed dedication of the symphony to 'dem lieben Gott'. Perhaps it is more accurate to see a note of Mephistophelian irony here. One feels we’re never far away from the 'Walpurgisnacht'. Herbig didn't seem to have much time for such rhetorical/literary allusions, conducting the movement as a symphonic scherzo in the classical tradition. Despite a few moments of rough rhythmic ensemble, those bludgeoning assertions of D minor sounded all the more menacing for being played in a directly forceful, but rhythmically accurate manner; Herbig here and throughout seemed acutely aware of Bruckner’s marking bewegt - 'with movement'. The fantastically fleet major key themes of the trio, which are marked schnell, made a wonderful contrast to the grim themes of the scherzo.

Similarly, in the great concluding adagio, Herbig concentrated on the purely musical, one could say 'architectural' aspects of the score. All the tonal progressions - from the opening ascending chorale-like theme chromatically straddling both major and minor, to the wide arching intervals in progressions from D minor, D minor, to A flat, and the concluding resolution in E major - were projected in a totally musical and inevitable fashion. Again Herbig seemed absolutely aware that this great adagio is all the more effective if charged with 'movement' – ‘bewegt’ again! Herbig, like Gunter Wand, Klemperer and Horenstein, has the experience and the insight to work towards the work’s ultimate climax. Tonight this approach really paid off. Herbig made the last great dissonant statement sound apocalyptic not by simply playing it louder, but by perfectly timing it in relation to the whole symphonic structure. And gauging this is no easy task when one takes into consideration that this colossal discord is conjured from seven different pitch-classes, all unified more or less around the the tonic D minor. Herbig brought this off magnificently. I have never heard the abrupt cut-off point after the last shattering dissonance done with such dramatic effect. One could even say that Herbig achieved something more than mere dramatic effect here. The stark silence thus attained, which Herbig kept on hold. as it were, with meticulous timing, had an almost 'unheimlich' (uncanny) traumatic resonance. A stark silence is the only tone/non tone that can directly follow such a catastrophe! The almost unprecedented calm (in Bruckner) of the concluding gentle declensions to the concluding resolve of E major sounded all the more effective through not being overlaid by a false aura of 'mystical' glow, heard in some performances. For Herbig Bruckner sounds unique in his own terms. I was left marvelling at the absolute sense of ending and stoic tranquillity here. Of course this is only half the story. We know Bruckner had partly composed a fourth and final movement, which has been re-constructed and performed. But can one believe that after this anything further was necessary - or even possible? 

Throughout the LPO played splendidly. The handful of rhythmic inaccuracies and moments of untidy ensemble ultimately paled into insignificance given the power and conviction of the overall performance.

Geoff Diggines.