SEEN AND HEARD INTERNATIONAL

Mozart and Brahms: Nelson Freire (piano) London Symphony Orchestra Colin Davis (conductor) Barbican Hall London, 21. 6. 2009 (GD)

Mozart: Symphony No 40 in Gminor, K 550

Brahms: Piano Concerto No 2 in B flat major, Op 83


This was big orchestra traditional Mozart, with four double basses and a large string compliment. I say 'traditional', but actually a tradition not so much to do with the composer's own tradition as with more 'romantic' traditions for performing Mozart developed from the nineteenth century. The erroneous non-antiphonal violin deployment that Davis adopted tonight was a bad tradition developed later in the early twentieth century though but with so many excellent, and not so excellent 'period' performances to choose from today there is still room for these non - 'period' performances. Amazingly such an unlikely candidate as Furtwängler proved this in his superb 1948 recording with the VPO; for many years the only recorded performance that adopted Mozart's 'molto allegro' in the first movement. Tonight's performance was simply not in this class.

For the opening,  Davis chose a tempo more akin a straight allegro. Despite some quite crisp playing this first movement lacked any sense of fire, drama, or underlying dynamic/urgent pulse,  not to mention the  apollonian contrast intrinsic to this unique music. It all  chugged along in the manner of a rehearsal run-through. At times, in this  and the last movement development sections, Davis did bring out important woodwind / horn figurations but these were too underlined, not emerging as part of the music's dramatic dialectic. At other times the horns/woodwinds were smothered by the heavy string texture and on several occasions the horns, in particular, developed quite serious tuning problems. The andante lacked a sense of flow and delineated contrast and the strings seemed incapable of sustaining a real pianissimo. Davis made Mozart's superb G minor canonic menuetto sound four-square and perfunctory. The finale was also often marred by too heavy accenting and frequent untidy ensemble.

In the Brahms concerto, Nelson  Freire gave a sensitive and strongly musical rendition for the most part.  This wasn't the superbly nuanced playing he gave us in a recent Leipzig recording of this gigantic concerto but in its blend of symphonic understanding/ involvement and  the right kind of restraint it was still most impressive. Davis chose quite broad tempi which did not always seem to suit Freire; on several occasions I had the impression he wanted to move on more than the conductor allowed. The first movement is marked allegro non troppo but Davis seemed intent on over emphasising the 'non troppo'. Having chosen a slowish tempo,  Davis did not seem to register the underlying movement and drive, here resulting in the music dragging, exacerbating the disunity between conductor and soloist further. Also, as with the Mozart symphony, there were tuning problems (horns again) and frequent untidy ensemble. These problems continued into the second movement allegro apassionato which Davis made sound more static than passionate -  and this despite Freire's attempts to inflect the piece with more brio.  The solo cello melody which initiates the andante third movement was played by David Cohen, the Philharmonia's first cello. Despite some effective phrasing,  he  did not always integrate with the rest of the orchestra,  sounding  inappropriately too much like a soloist. Freier's eloquent dialogue with the orchestra in the stormy second subject minor key modulations was most impressive; restrained, but thereby all the more trenchant.  Davis's rather four-square heavy accents in the grazioso finale delivered no sense of 'grace' or the 'child-like play' which Tovey found so captivating. But again, Freire's most idiomatic light but urgent touch, almost saved the day. I look forward to hearing him again in this work but with a more accommodating, sympathetic conductor; Abbado,Chailly (with whom he recorded the work) or possibly Mackerras.

Geoff Diggines


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