Jonas Kaufmann's Die Walküre

Richard Wagner
Prelude to Tristan und Isolde
Wesendock Lieder
Act I from Die Walküre 

Jonas Kaufmann tenor
London Symphony Orchestra

Jonas Kaufmann

Antonio Pappano conductor
Karita Mattila soprano
Eric Halfvarson bass

Barbican Hall, London, 8 February 2017
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Jonas Kaufmann's Barbican residency across 4 concerts continued with a much-anticipated Wagner evening.  And it was inevitably the Walkure First Act that dominated proceedings. 

For this he was joined by the no less formidable Karita Mattila as well as Pappano leading the LSO.  The LSO threw us into a most vivid storm after which we heard Kaufmannn's Siegmund emerge.  This was sophisticated Wagner, marked by an intensely lyrical line.  How glorious to hear the role properly sung, rather than shouted.  Wintersturme never sounded more beautiful.

The down-side was that a truly heroic impact was missing from the closing pages of this wonderful slow-burner of an Act. For some true Wagnerian abandon one had to turn to Mattila.  She was less in control, more squally, but delivered an authentic emotional punch.  Standing next to her, both in physical and vocal gesture, Kaufmann gave the impression of pacing himself and guarding his voice for the concerts to come.  That said, the cries of Walse, Walse were thrillingly sustained.

For the evening's complete performance Eric Halfvarson's Hunding was surely as close to ideal as it is possible to hope for.  From cracking bottom notes to physical menace he dominated everything he did.  Not even the weird placement of Pappano directly between him and the other two soloists could spoil the dramatic effect.

Pappano may not be a master of the long line, but the LSO built up a great head of steam in the exhilarating conclusion. Could someone not have set up the singers a more comfortable distance from his podium and those arms so frequently whirling like windmills?   In the first half, the Tristan Prelude did not catch fire but the Wesendonk Lieder again showed off the fine, lyrical beauty of Kaufmann's sophisticated tenor voice.  

Karita Mattila

Martha Argerich: supreme musician

Aram Khachaturian: Adagio of Spartacus and Phrygia, Dance of the Gaditanian Maidens and Victory of Spartacus, Spartacus, Suite No.1 & 2.
Sergey Prokofiev: Piano Concerto No.3

Dmitry Shostakovich: Symphony No.5 in D minor

St Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra
Yuri Temirkanov, conductor
Martha Argerich, piano

Royal Festival Hall, London,

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This spectacular concert offered Russia's pre-eminent orchestra playing a Shostakovich symphony which it premiered in 1937. If that was not enough, they were joined by the legendary Martha Argerich for the Prokofiev Third Concerto - a work which no-one on the planet plays better. 

Martha Argerich, then.  Photo: Priska Ketterer

Unlike some other ageing virtuosi, Argerich remains in magnificent shape.  Now in her 70s, her fingers retain their steel and how her hands flicker and flash over the keys.  Her musicianship can genuinely be described as a wonder - instinctive, in the moment, of the greatest sensitivity and alive to every nuance in the score and the musicians around her. 

Her Prokofiev is close to an ideal with its power, lyricism and subtlety.  One example can suffice: in the last moment after the orchestra blooms into a lush melody Prokofiev "steps on the throat of his own song" as the piano enters with a mysterious and pointedly sarcastic interlude.  What introspection and shades of colour Argerich provided here: mesmerising. 

Martha Argerich, now.  Photo: Neumeister

Such is Argerich's reputation for cancellations the packed Hall was cheering as she came on stage.  Famous pianists abounded in the audience,  Nikolai Lugansky and Stephen Kovacevich among them. At the end all were on their feet.  Taking her bows, and afterwards backstage, she seemed more relaxed than in years past.  We were treated to Liszt's arrangement of Schumann's song Widmung as an encore.  

After the interval, the St Petersburgh gave a powerful Shostakovich Fifth.  It was a broad interpretation from Temirkanov, lacking the last ounce of intensity from where I was sitting.  The pay off came in the third movement Largo which underlined the romantic underpinnings of this giant of 20th century music.  

Evgeny Mravinsky who conducted the premiere of Shostakovich's 5th Symphony, together with the composer.

It was left to the encore to display the full glory of the St Petersburgh strings, the conclusion of Prokofiev's Cinderella ballet showing off a bottomless tonal depth to the sound.  Quite awesome and a fitting conclusion to a most memorable afternoon.

The St Petersburgh Philharmonic at home.