Reading in The
Times that Brendel (playing Mozart
in Aldeburgh last week) had been on 'auto-pilot', prompted thoughts
about his Piano Concerto K488, heard last night at the RFH. Replacing
the Schumann concerto scheduled, it was given a straightforward run-through
by Maria João Pires, whom I had admired in recital at
Wigmore Hall and in her recordings
of Schumann. She had, one presumed, flown in specially and was greeted
rapturously by a full Royal Festival Hall.
Unusually, I took along a score hoping to glean some
special insights from this revered pianist. There were none; she played
that popular concerto neatly - more legato and less pointedly than I
would prefer. This is relatively easy music to play, however many subtle
nuances might be contrived to satisfy the palates of super-sensitive
Mozartian gourmets, and many a student pianist could have brought to
it a more eager freshness than did Pires. There was nothing of the élan
and adventurousness which Robert
Levin on fortepiano brings to Mozart concertos, and those bare notes
spanning two and a half octaves, sketched in by Mozart towards the end
of the slow movement, were given literally and unadorned, despite the
conductor being Sir Charles Mackerras, who many decades ago had
surprised us by introducing embellishments in his period-aware Mozart
opera performances. Mackerras buried himself deferentially behind the
lid of the piano (I remember Sir Adrian Boult as being possibly the
first conductor to do this?). From centre stalls, that made it hard
to hear the flute hidden behind - perhaps the wind group should be placed
to the sides of the piano?
These curmudgeonly reflections are doubtless coloured
by having spent four hours the previous evening at Ian
Pace's marathon concert at King's College, which is unlikely to
be reviewed in the 'major' press, and certainly will not reap commensurate
financial rewards. Although I continue to find Mozart's operas untiringly
fascinating (three seen recently in
Berlin plus two recently released CDs each of Figaro &
the Don) I am strongly inclined towards Norman Lebrecht's provocative
views about Mozart
overkill and The Mostly Mozart Festival, 'celebrating the
world's most popular composer', which has been raking in the $s in USA
and is poised to collect the £s at the Barbican next month.
Dvorak's In Nature's Realm, the gentlest of
his three linked concert overtures, was welcome for its rarity; not
the most subtle account of it, as balanced within the Philharmonia,
and emphasising the more bucolic elements. Berlioz's imperishable Fantastic
Symphony was as extraordinary as ever - an astonishing conception
for 1830. But the March to the Scaffold and Witches' Sabbath
movements unleashed such power that I was glad I had opted beforehand
to retreat from my allocated seat to the front Terrace Stalls; distance
also gave more mystery to the dialogue between cor-anglais and oboe
in the Scène aux champs. Berlioz is a modernist for all
times.
Peter Grahame Woolf
Note: To follow the reasoning in this short report, readers
should please click onto the hyperlinks highlighted. (PGW)
Maria
João Pires :
"Maria Joao Pires lives on a farm in rural
Portugal with her four children, and recommends 'milking a goat as a
wonderful finger exercise' - - is today's foremost Portuguese pianist
- - has achieved praise for her Mozart performances - - A serious car
accident halted her career; when she recovered some critics felt she
had become an even better musician than before - - prefers the recording
studio to the concert hall - - "
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