Beethoven, Mozart, Dvorak: London Symphony Orchestra; Sir Colin Davis, Mitsuko Uchida (piano) Barbican Hall, London, 22.02.2007 (GD)  

 

 

 

Davis opened tonight’s concert with a rather matter-of-fact performance Beethoven’s Second symphony. Beethoven’s arresting opening coup d’archet in D major didn’t sound as commanding as it can do under conductors like Harnoncourt, and used to, under Toscanini. The ‘adagio’ introduction seemed to drag here, with no real sense of dramatic contrast in those harmonic modulations between d major and d minor, punctuated by sharp accents on muted horns. The main Allegro con brio merely jogged along in a rather four-square manner with no sense of expectancy in Beethoven’s sudden and abrubt sforzandi. In the larghetto I had no sense of Tovey’s ‘one of the most luxurious slow movements in the world’. Actually Davis chose a relatively forward moving tempo, but with slack phrasing and bland articulation of those gentle cantilena melodic lines (which so influenced the young Mendelssohn) the music dragged. Davis’s performance was totally devoid of that sense of rhythmic contrast and matching dynamics that characterizes Beethoven’s first real orchestral scherzo. Similarly all the final movement's sense of play (more tiger-cub than kitten) was lost. Some sloppy ensemble in the strings in the movement’s sharp cross-rhythm development section did nothing to help matters.

Mozart’s Piano concerto in C major, K415, was the last in a set of piano concertos he wrote on his arrival in Vienna in the winter of 1782. For reasons unknown to me, K 415 is certainly one of the least performed of the mature piano concertos. The opening bravura ritornello with its complex contrapuntal cadences and festive writing for trumpets and timpani prefigure the later great piano concert in C, K 503. Tonight Uchida’s pianistic embellishments at the end of each ‘galant’ cadence in the opening soloist’s figurations sounded totally appropriate, and what a wonderful lead in to the succinct but imposing development section to the first movement, with Uchida relishing in Mozart’s protean harmonic/tonal invention and innovation for piano and orchestra in dialogue.

Uchida tactfully demonstrated Mozart’s mastery of contrast from the bravura festive music of the first movement to the gentle lyricism of the second movement Andante, with subtle realization of its minor key interpolations and contrasts. Similarly Uchida (with the most well chosen rubato) fully encompassed the stylistic/emotional range (operatic in the slower minor key sections) of the ‘Rondeau: Allegro final. With such an engaging and inventive pianist it is a pity that Davis and the orchestra could not have provided more imaginative accompaniment. I remember an older sixties recording of this concerto Davis made with Ingrid Haebler. Haebler was nowhere near as inventive and compelling as Uchida was tonight, but Davis’s conducting then was far more vigorous and responsive to the essential character of the piece. If only Uchida’s excellent musicality had been complemented tonight by a conductor like Eliot Gardiner or Mackerras!

Dvorak’s Symphony in D major, now rightly numbered as his sixth, like the Mozart concerto is still relatively little played in concert compared with the popularity of the last three of his symphonies. The work’s dedicatee, Hans Richter, was highly enthusiastic about the symphony. Both he and Tovey saw the work as belonging to the great nineteenth century Viennese symphonic tradition, with an added Bohemian lyricism. And it certainly has a Brahmsian feel to it, especially the Brahms of the Second symphony, also in D major. But perhaps we should be careful not to impute too much to this similarity; Dvorak’s work has a distinctly Czech feeling, particularly in the ‘Furiant’ scherzo third movement.

Overall Davis and the LSO gave a most sympathetic performance. In the first movement ‘Allegro non tanto’ Davis’s eyes were more on the allegro marking. But he managed a good contrast between the lyrical sections (which permeate the whole work, especially in there invocation of Czech dance/folk themes) and the more dynamic, rhythmically charged sections. The dynamic ostinato tutti cadence, which compounds the recapitulations material, just before the joyous coda, was inflected with just the right combination of rhythmic lift and dramatic charge.

Davis managed the lyrical/dramatic contrast of the ‘Adagio’ well. The often remarked similarities between this movement and the ‘Adagio’ from Beethoven’s Ninth symphony, sounded tonight, with an emphasis on the drama initiated in the triplet drum figure. At times Davis’s initial, quite well chosen flowing tempo sagged a little. And I missed the sustained melodic flow one hears in classic recordings from the invincible Czech Philharmonic from conductors like; Talich, Sejna and Ancerl.

 

Similarly the ‘Furiant’ Presto third movement although rhythmically exact and crisp, lacked a certain ‘furious’ quality implied in the music and perfectly realized by any of the Czech conductors mentioned above. But overall Davis and the LSO were on very good form here. Tovey’s ‘power of movement’ with which he characterizes Dvorak’s finale as the ‘magnificent crown’ to this ‘noble work’, was mostly realised well by Davis tonight; with plenty of buoyant rhythm and lyrical contrast. At times some woodwind detail (so prominent in this symphony) was less than clear, and played too loudly on other occasions where a more  ‘dolce’ sound was appropriate. The tremendous extended coda, encompassing a combination of high spirits and dramatic jubilation, although well delivered, with radiant (occasionally over-zealous brass) lacked that last ounce of rhythmic energy and impact one hears in the greatest performances of this work. But overall, a fine and enjoyable performance of a great, and still under-performed symphony.

 

 

 

Geoff Diggines