Radu Lupu acclaimed in Beethoven

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture

Beethoven: Piano Concerto No.4
Rachmaninov: Symphony No.2 

Philharmonia Orchestra
Paavo Järvi conductor
Radu Lupu piano

Royal Festival Hall, London 3 February 2019

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Based on decades of exalted musicianship, Radu Lupu is very much in the cult-status category in Europe.  The rarity of his visits to London ensured a packed Festival Hall for his concerto, and also some empty seats after the interval.

His musical prestige has for long also been a source of pride for his native Romania and this concert was accompanied by a foreword from the Romanian government during its current 6 month presidency of the Council of the EU.

Not that all of this has in any way affected the man. This evening will live long in the memory for Radu Lupu's direct, unaffected truth-telling. His physical presence on stage with his straight backed chair that of a genial monk, occasionally glancing at his figures with mild surprise they'd hit a wrong note, generally engaged with the music and his colleagues in the orchestra.

Lupu's particular magic was a wonderful match for Beethoven's Fourth Concerto.  Happy to play genuine pianissimos his approach emphasised the delicacy and clarity of the music, far removed from the thicker sonorities that are the norm.  His soundworld remains a delight from its distinctively pearly treble notes to the beautifully weighted harmonies of the bass.  Following enthusiastic acclaim, a perfectly judged encore of Brahms' Intermezzo Op 117/1 followed.

Beside all this Paavo Jarvi's approach to the Beethoven Coriolan Overture was studied rather than dramatic and the more successful Rachmaninov built up in slabs of bold, direct interpretation. A refusal to linger may have tempered the emotion at times, but of course this symphony does not lack for that.  The Philharmonia's woodwind did not have their most characterful night, but the strings and brass played with great depths of tone and drama, and what can be a wayward symphony developed towards a very satisfying sense of culmination at the end.

Radu Lupu