Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No.9 in E flat, K.271
Johannes Brahms: Symphony No.1
Budapest Festival Orchestra
Iván Fischer conductor
Maria João Pires piano
Royal Festival Hall, London, 20 May 2015
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| Maria Joao Pires |
The
opening Magic Flute overture of Mozart set the bar high. The
interpretation was detailed and well prepared. Phrases were rounded
with care, and sonorities were rich without losing the essential
lightness of touch that this work requires.
With Maria Joao Pires as soloist in the Mozart 9th
concerto there was never going to be a turn towards heaviness after the
overture. Pires draws you in, her simplicity of utterance feeling almost radical. In the chamber-like interplay between soloist and
orchestra in the last movement Pires and Fisher were in their element;
fine musicians, totally engaged in the score. Her luminous encore from Schumann's Waldszenen rounded off her performance in true Pires fashion: eloquent, humble, haunting.
If
one was to have any doubts about the exalted nature of the evening, it
was the Brahms First Symphony that provided them. Fisher and the
Budapest players have a thoroughly considered view of this score. Each
phrase and detail was placed within an overall arc to the
interpretation. These are the kind of qualities you get from a Mariss
Jansons or Krystian Zimerman also. However there was a nagging
suspicion that for all its sonic beauty and sculpted phrases and
paragraphs, the last movement lacked a sense of abandonment when
required. Can surging excitement in music be so carefully prepared?
The encore was just wonderful. The musicians put down their instruments and began to swap positions. It then became clear the men and women were dividing into two halves standing around the conductor’s podium. Fisher then directed the orchestra – now a choir – in an a capella Brahms motet. The Budapest Festival Orchestra never fail to delight.
The encore was just wonderful. The musicians put down their instruments and began to swap positions. It then became clear the men and women were dividing into two halves standing around the conductor’s podium. Fisher then directed the orchestra – now a choir – in an a capella Brahms motet. The Budapest Festival Orchestra never fail to delight.
