Symphony Hall, Birmingham - Saturday 4th February 2006
- Schubert - Overture & Entr'acte from Rosamunde
- Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67
- Mozart - Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, K. 467
Personally, I don't believe you need excuses such as a round-figure anniversary to put on concerts containing works by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and although it seems like promoters do, I'm naturally enjoying the sudden interest in performing his works - I've already reserved myself for 4 concerts related to the master's 250th anniversary in the next couple of months, including an unmissable concert as a birthday present from my mum featuring the master baroque violinist Giuliano Carmignola.
Anyway, I had previously planned to see the Bavarian Philharmonic when it visited Warwick Arts Centre last week but as I became engaged (musically, thankfully) elsewhere I decided to make my first visit to Birmingham's rather modern and very beautiful Symphony Hall. Their website recommended I travel by rail and I would agree - it was inexpensive and far quicker and more comfortable than any bus route. The concert ticket itself, which although bargaintasticly priced at £3.50, rather alarmingly suggests the lack of interest there must be in the student demographic to listen to live classical music.
I felt somewhat lucky that whilst queuing to buy a programme a kind anonymous gentleman pressed a gratis copy into my hand and ran off, refusing to accept any form of payment - not only were they £2.50 (70% of the actual entrance cost!) but they contained little revealing detail about the works or artists, save from the now seemingly obligatory enumeration of the instrumental entries in a few random movements. Three exceptions were the list of upcoming concerts an interesting comparison of the 21st concerto and it's predecessor in D minor, and the self-biographical notes provided by the Bavarian Philharmonic which, whilst rather amusing, hinted at a different kind of approach to orchestral playing.
However, what was far more revealing than any words was Schubert's Overture & Entr'acte from Rosamunde. This was without doubt was the most enjoyable and well-played concert opener I've ever heard. A textbook example of simple and elegant playing, every phrase was balanced and considered as a whole, yet at the same time it wasn't boring or predictable - it surprising and very engaging to listen to. The orchestra even managed to raise a chuckle from the audience in a cheeky rendition of the playful up-tempo C major section.
The famous theme in the Entr'acte (which also features in the somewhat deeper Andante of Schubert's «Rosamunde» Quartet in A minor) was also brilliantly played, although I felt that the unexpected modulation to E-flat came around a little too often to be given the same treatment every time - this unfortunately made Schubert's ingenious device sound tired and almost clichéd after a while. Curiously, from the attention to detail given to other aspects of the playing I feel certain that this obstinacy was highly deliberate on behalf of the conductor, so perhaps it just didn't 'work' this evening.
The only other gripe I could have (ignoring some obviously forgiveable sluggish ensemble playing at the opening of the Overture) was that the woodwind and brass sections were simply too loud. Not insensitive (far from it: I enjoyed their playful duets considerably) just too loud compared to a section of wonderfully played strings.
Regardless of these flaws, the end result was something exceedingly beautiful to listen to and once it was over I found it hard to restrain myself from saying "wow" to my unknown adjacent neighbour.
There is little different to comment on regarding Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. It was definitely enjoyable in many ways, especially with respect to the string playing in the Andante con moto. Special credit must be given here to the cello and viola sections for a wonderfully expressive, consistent and cantabile sound with such small numbers.
In addition, the work sounded fresh when played with a smaller force. In this respect, it had a similar feel to Christopher Hogwoods's recordings with the AAM, instead of the massive, awe-inspiring and sometimes overwhelming volume of Karajan, Böhm, and friends. Congruous with Hogwood's cycle, Guttenberg showed a consistency of interpretation on repeated expositions and other verbosely repeated sections, and although he sometimes could not curtail a rushing section (something that simply did not happen in the other two works) he also showed a very good consistency of tempi.
Highlights of the work would have to include the aforementioned second movement as well as an engaging final movement overcoming its contemporary inevitability. My overall feeling towards it would be that I had listened to a very well played Beethoven 5, whereas I had been completely engaged in the Schubert. Perhaps I have simply heard this piece too many times.
On my first glance at the concert flyer I confused the English pianist Freddy Kempf—who performed Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 in C, the only Mozart piece in the programme—with the master Beethoven interpreter Wilhelm Kempff. At first I was disappointed that he wasn't going to perform any Beethoven himself but had to reconsider my disgruntlement after remembering he passed away in his 90s. For those of you not in the know, Freddy Kempf won the BBC Young Musician of the Year Competition in 1992 and has since been performing and recording a multitude of works. Previous to this concert I had not heard any of Kempf's playing but was very interested after reading about his role in the 1998 Tchaikovsky Competition.
Anyway, it started rather well. Or should I say, the Bavarian Philharmonic started really rather well - taking a slightly faster tempo (than any of the recordings I own) allowed the work to open in a much more lilting and playful manner, bypassing the disjointed subjects and/or somewhat indifferent nature of others. The playing wasn't as flawless as the opening Schubert, but it was very very close, and I could have easily listened to the exposition for a long time without tiring. What did tire eventually was that the woodwind were again too loud, thus ensuring that string-woodwind echo effects were ruined by louder consequent phrases. I was also thoroughly confused by the flute's insistence on playing their famous ascending chromatic scales with an extreme staccato, whilst the strings played the equivalent and surrounding sections with a lovely legato. This is the first time I've heard this being done.
Thus enters the piano. Now—I'm going to have to choose my words very carefully here—Kempf is clearly a fine piano player, but he seemed to insist on making the simple passages far more complicated than they should be. For a listener who knows the piece well, this came across as bad musicianship at best, and at worst, just plain showing off. It made for frustrating listening as it was quite obvious that Kempf was clearly capable of playing in a true Mozartian manner - indeed, some of his best playing in the concerto was in the E minor interlude. This was stunning to hear and complemented the fine answering phrasing of the orchestra perfectly. Perhaps with a lesser ensemble my gripes wouldn't be so apparent, but with such a high-class group supporting him the contrast was rather obvious. The lowest point was—without doubt—the inappropriately furious cadenza that ended the movement: it was in such bad taste in relation to the preceding material it left a rather sour taste in my mouth until well into the next movement.
However, it was in the next two movements that we heard really fine piano playing. Kempf didn't fall into the trap of excessive, pulse-destroying rubato in the 12/8 Andante (this is what tarnishes Barenboim's otherwise excellent interpretation of this concerto), and nor did I detect any of the overexertion that tainted the first movement. All-in-all, a fine movement.
The final Allegro vivace took me rather by surprise as Kempf who, after hearing a perfect cadence in G major signalling his entry, mistakenly believed he was now playing Mozart's earlier «Jeunehomme» concerto and consequently crashed into its E-flat rondo theme. Perhaps he was trying to better Emanuel Ax's rather unconvincing performance of the work on BBC 4 last week? Or maybe he was maybe a subtle reference to Beethoven's 4th Piano Concerto due to its association with the Beethoven symphony? Impressively, all the performers looked totally unfazed and I could only spot a few audience members who noticed this somewhat unexpected tertiary modulation as well. Kempf himself recovered fine and went on to produce a dazzling finale that impressed technically, although not in a convincingly stylistic manner.
As I mentioned above, Kempf is obviously a extremely talented player, but he must remember that performing Mozart successfully is genuinely not like other composer: it is extremely difficult due to it's simplicity and it's apparent intolerance of tens of musical traits (whilst at the same time appearing deceptively easy to the uninitiated!). Essentially, it is very simple music, and it just needs be played in a simple manner, without any fuss or unfounded extravagance. And, of course, this is exactly why it is so difficult. :)
Anyway, all-in-all, the concert was very enjoyable and despite not warming particularly to Kempf's Mozart, I will definitely be looking out for performances including the Bavarian Philharmonic or Kempf in the future. The former comes very highly recommended.
I came across your site when I was searching for Freddy Kempf.
I have been a long admire of him, since 1992 Young musician of the year.
I am a pianist my self but rather prefer to perform avant-garde works of 20th/21st century.
Through years of hearing Freddy's performance, I have noticed changes in the way he plays.
I am not quite sure if he truly is 'suited' to play Mozart as I felt he always felt comfortable playing the great Russian romantics. Having said that, we all know how easy it is to play Mozart with too much 'emotion' than to follow what the scores say.
I must say, I was impressed by your rather detailed critique - you must truly love music and love playing cello!
Nao Maebayashi