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Music is a better world
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| Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 3.11.05 Zinman conducts Beethoven's "Consecration of the House" at the Pro Arte series Regular concert-goers don't expect anything out of the ordinary of an evening of Beethoven, unless an unusual interpretation being brought to light makes them prick up their ears. The Pro Arte visiting orchestra, the Zurich Tonhalle, provided an exception to this at the Alte Oper, as Chief Conductor David Zinman had decided to introduce the standard pattern programme, of overture - solo concerto - symphony, with the almost unknown "Consecration of the House" Opus 124. As the high opus number reveals, this is a late work of the composer, written as incidental music for a theatre production in Vienna. The music is rather more fresco-like in its effect than thoroughly worked, and yet within a rather pompous overall tone there are delightful passages in the accustomed Beethoven style. On the other hand Beethoven's Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No 2 in B flat major Op. 19 is a very early work, dating from the year 1795 - in fact the first of his numbered series of works for this instrument and of this genre. It doesn't open up horizons to the same extent as concertos 3, 4 and 5 would do later, each in its own way, but neither does Beethoven stick here to a mere formula. The specifications of this music should be clearly emphasized, in that the demands made on the soloist in this case are greater than those on the orchestra. In this respect the Tashkent pianist Yefim Bronsman (sic tr.) was a slight disappointment. It wasn't that his playing left anything to be desired technically, but on the whole his contribution was a bit routine and flat, providing none of the interpretations or special combinations of sound which might make the listener sit up and take notice. This impression was further confirmed in the encore, the usually brilliantly played Etude in C minor Op. 10 No. 12 by Chopin. "Routine" would not be a word you could apply to Zinman's interpretation of Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 in E flat major Op. 55 (The "Eroica"), however, which closed the programme. On the contrary, here something was ventured, which was possibly not in every conceivable way perfectly achieved by the alert and responsive Zurich musicians, but which nevertheless led to an exciting and full interpretation. Zinman accentuated on the one hand the contrasting elements, the countless sforzati and the stresses on weak beats in the bar, but embedded these moments of disruption in a very regular stream of sound, without breaking the flow. With an appropriately fast basic tempo this could only succeed by the lightning interjection of particular fragments of motif. Zinman's logic in this respect was perhaps not always clear, but he nevertheless went consistently for transparency. The excellence with which the motifs moved through the instrumental groups on this evening would be hard to repeat, especially as the Zurich musicians were using large forces. The guest orchestra rewarded the somewhat reserved applause with an enchanting and virtuoso rendition of the overture to the ballet "The Creatures of Prometheus" Op. 43, also by Beethoven of course. Harald Budweg Translated by Jo Spearing DAVID ZINMAN |
