Barenboim is an infrequent visitor
to the UK, so any opportunity to see this ex-Wunderkind is to
be grasped. Evidently I was not the only one to think so, for the auditorium
was stuffed to the rafters and the queue for returns eminently healthy.
The orchestra also excited curiosity:
the strangely named West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, formed in 1999 and
Barenboim’s ‘baby’. Comprising 80 young musicians originating from diverse
Middle Eastern, Israeli and Andalucian backgrounds (it is a youth orchestra),
this year’s Summer course was held in Seville (hence the second encore,
a sparking account of Rossini’s Barber: Schubert provided the
first).
Originally, the programme was
to be short (merely the Mozart and Beethoven). Then, Schubert’s ‘Unfinished’
was added and all of a sudden value-for-money was the order of the day.
Interpretatively, this was convincing Schubert of the old school. The
opening statement carried with it an ominous swell; structural build-ups
were in the Furtwängler mould (the opening of the development was
pregnant with expectancy); trombones were almost ceremonial (recalling
Mozart’s more overtly Freemasonic moments). Fortes in the second
movement were big-boned, the sense of drama palpable. Only some rough
edges regarding ensemble acted as a reminder of the youth of the players,
but it was a highly enjoyable performance. Typical of the Prommers that
applause after the final chord was immediate, though. Do they have no
soul?
There followed a rare opportunity
to hear Mozart’s Concerto in F for Three Pianos and Orchestra, K242
(1776). Of the three parts, one was written for a pianist of modest
means (Josepha, daughter of Countess Antonia Maria Lodron), and it was
this part Barenboim took, leaving him free to direct most of the time.
A shame for those who came along to hear Barenboim the pianist. If the
Allegro was not very allegro, there was evident affection for this rarely-heard
piece (rightly so). It did look strange, having three whopping great
Steinways for this most delicate of music, but the rapport between players
was a consistent delight. If I had to state a preference, it would be
for Saleem Abboud Ashkar (first piano), whose assurance shone through
his playing (Shai Wosner was a little more restrained). If some of the
detail was lost in the Albert Hallian wash, the Adagio (one of the most
civilised pieces of music ever written) was sheer pleasure. Interchanges
between soloists were managed in the most delightful of fashions. A
true success.
Barenboim’s fifty-minute Eroica
was a big interpretation. The opening tutti tonic chords were
sledgehammers in sound. The old-school approach led to a wonderful intensification
of tension in the development, its solid determination leading inexorably
towards the crushing climactic dissonances. The Funeral March was characterised
by richly Romantic string sonorities (tempo-wise, it did flow though).
Antiphonal string displacement worked well, as did Barenboim’s proclivity
for dynamic extremes: Beethoven the reactionary shone through. The Scherzo
and Trio was a triumph: this music suits youth perfectly, and the horns
were, indeed, straight from the chase. Barenboim’s far-sighted way with
the Finale generated a fair head of momentum, leading to grand, heroic
horns at its culmination.
The enthusiastic reception was
well deserved. The rough edges of the Schubert were all but ironed out
in the Beethoven, although it is perhaps for the rare Mozart that this
concert will remain in the memory.
Colin Clarke
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