Prom 59: 29.08.16 - Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra – Beethoven

[pastoralguy]

is it just me or is the pianoforte rather close miked? Mind you, fabulous playing from all concerned!

[kernelbogey]

is it just me or is the pianoforte rather close miked? Mind you, fabulous playing from all concerned!

I'm just really enjoying a balance between piano and orchestra which is unfamiliar from most recordings and broadcasts - hearing lots of new detail in the piano part - partly Schiff, partly Blomstedt, partly engineers!

[pastoralguy]

Schiff holding onto the last chord after the orchestra stopped at the end of the first movt. happened in Edinburgh too.

[Bryn]

Does anyone here have, or have access to, Jonathan Del Mar's critical edition of this concerto? I really like to know what conclusion he comes to regarding the principal time signature, and thus tempo, of the 'slow' movement.

[Alison]

- hearing lots of new detail in the piano part -

Very telling left hand contribution tonight

[edashtav]

Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra conducted by Herbert Blomstedt

Leonora no 2 is the most dramatic of the Fidelio overtures. This was a slow, expansive performance with crescendi and climaxes allowed to grow and flourish and isolated chords to resound and die in the RAH’s ample acoustics. Did I detect an orchestral emulation of the 19th century pianistic habit of playing chords in the left hand before the right? Bruckner would have loved the significant silences. This was the most old-fashioned interpretation of Beethoven that I’ve heard in a quarter of a century. But, I’ve been listening appreciatively to Herbert Blomstedt’s conducting for half a century and he’s close to 90!

Piano Concerto no. 5 in Eb major with Sir Andras Schiff playing Schiff’s piano.

The main tempo was well set with a strong feeling of forward propulsion, yet without undue haste. My earliest memories are of live performances by Wilhelm Backhaus and Benno Moiseivitch. Schiff showed a lighter touch than either of those but he did indulge in a touch of left before right chording, maybe in honour of playing with the orchestra that gave this great work its world premiere. Schiff’s playing was full of detached chords, precisely placed within an overall concern for line and shape. Were I to reach for a single adjective, I’d use ‘aristocratic’. The big moments were drawn with conviction and much flourish.The Schiff piano was hard – pressed to yield a wide range of colour and dynamics. It sounded superb but a long way from a fortepiano.

No time for any Bank Holiday revelry from the audience for Blomstedt launched straight into the slow movement. Some fellows who had saved their best coughs could contain their rasps no longer than its first subject. To more important matters, Schiff’s phrasing was a constant delight. The transition to the finale was replete with mystery and repressed expectation.

Was that finale a little too controlled and conservative in tempo? There was ample time for a great deal of detail that can be lost within the overall welter of notes. However,I did miss some visceral excitement and headlong virtuosity. It was as if a virtuoso was walking us through the movement to demonstrate its components and structural strengths.

Overall, A-, a fine performance but not the best I’ve experienced.
One of Schubert's Impromptus made a generous and appropriate encore.

[kernelbogey]

Very telling left hand contribution tonight

Yes - also very noticeable in the Schubert.

[edashtav]

Yes,the left hand ruled this concert - nothing sinister in that- even the orchestra played chords from the bottom up, at times.A fine "20th century" performance of the symphony. A very good concert and a great tribute to Herbert Blomstedt and the longevity of conductors, in general. "They shall not grow old..."
Lovely work by the beeb's engineers.

[kernelbogey]

What an absolutely terrific performance of the seventh symphony!

I loved the tempo of IV - and the orchestra remained crisp throughout! Also the lack of pauses between I and II, and between III and IV - just right.

Lovely flute throughout, to pick on just one highlight.

It must have been electrifying in the hall....

And now the splendid Egmont Overture - a great favourite of mine.

[Prommer]

Wow! The brass in the Egmont!

[edashtav]

Wow! The brass in the Egmont!

YES! Great to have such a substantial encore.

[DaisyDog]

Reservations about Beethoven? How could you? It's as well you weren't around in 1808 when a benefit concert was held for Beethoven in Vienna. The concert was almost four hours long, featured the public premieres of Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto and the Choral Fantasy. The performers consisted of an orchestra, chorus, vocal soloists, and the composer as piano soloist.

[Bryn]

Reservations about Beethoven? How could you? It's as well you weren't around in 1808 when a benefit concert was held for Beethoven in Vienna. The concert was almost four hours long, featured the public premieres of Beethoven's Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, the Fourth Piano Concerto and the Choral Fantasy. The performers consisted of an orchestra, chorus, vocal soloists, and the composer as piano soloist.

Re. JC on LvB.

[oddoneout]

I had BBC4's country bus slow tv on while listening to the concert. Uplifting music and soothing green countryside - effective antidote to a busy( and not always pleasant) working Bank Holiday weekend.

[Pianorak]

I had BBC4's country bus slow tv on while listening to the concert. Uplifting music and soothing green countryside . . .

Snap. Great minds?