While your writer completely
respects Mozart, he does not even own a recording
of the Jupiter Symphony, just to be
completely candid with the shameful truth.
While I would hear the Concertgebouw play
pretty much anything, I was not particularly
excited when this somewhat pedestrian-sounding
programme was announced. (Please refer to
the rant in article on the previous night’s
concert.)
But the results on Sunday
afternoon spoke for themselves. Using no podium,
no stick, and no score (actually, no scores
appeared for anything in either of the two
concerts), Blomstedt stood in the center of
the Mozart-sized orchestra at eye-level with
the musicians, and directing with his hands,
only enhanced the feeling of intimacy and
joyfulness. As with the Beethoven the night
before, the work seemed perfectly proportioned,
with nothing egregiously pulled out of shape
or experimented on – just a lucid account
of an elegantly assembled piece, with the
Concertgebouw’s peerless musicians creating
a warm bath of sound that made one just want
to dive right in. If you want to hear this
warhorse, this is probably how you should
hear it.
Speaking of warhorses,
a strong performance of a classic can be valuable
because it encourages you to live in the moment,
no matter how many times you may have heard
the piece in question. For a little while
you can completely forget previous outings
and are not tempted to anticipate future ones,
because what you are hearing now completely
overtakes you, and that is exactly what happened
with this entertaining Brahms First Symphony.
Regaining a podium and a baton, Blomstedt
led the first movement in a way that was almost
angry but not quite, with strong, gutsy playing
like an afternoon thunderstorm. Concertmaster
Alexander Kerr ended the second movement with
a sweetly nostalgic violin solo, and his heavenly
finesse was one of the highlights of the day.
And in the movement marked Un poco allegretto
e grazioso, flutist Emily Beynon and clarinetist
Jacques Meertens gracefully showed why some
think the Concertgebouw has the world’s finest
woodwind section.
In the dramatic final
movement, I challenge any music lover to resist
when the huge, warm-hearted main theme strides
into view, especially after the chorale that
was so nobly announced by the orchestra’s
trio of trombones, Ivan Meylemans, Jörgen
van Rijen and Bart Claessens. The broad and
enticing conclusion was again, beautifully
paced and had all parts of Brahms’ lovely
orchestration audible, right up through the
muscular conclusion that pretty much brought
the house down. The encore, a bracing account
of Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, sent
everyone away quite happy including the musicians,
who seemed to enjoy working with Blomstedt
a great deal.
Now, Maestro Blomstedt,
with all due respect: Please, next time,
how about giving us one of those Nielsen symphonies?
Bruce Hodges
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