The Beethoven Piano Concerto Festival began this past week with pianist Radu Lupu performing Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58. Mr. Lupu, one of the finest pianists performing these days, gave us a beautiful but greatly understated performance of this great concerto. The opening movement contained an exquisite piano solo by Mr. Lupu. The understated play may have been most profound in the sublime second movement with its infamous call and response between the orchestra strings and piano. Mr. Lupu’s response to the aggressive play of the orchestra strings was defiantly passive. Even the finale, the rondo: vivace, which often leaps off the stage sort of strolled through the concerto’s conclusion. Franz Welser-Most made a fine partner with Mr. Lupu’s interpretation keeping a tight control on the orchestra’s dynamics. The concerto was performed with almost a sense of insignificance though the music itself prevents that from happening. The evening continued with Franz Schubert’s Symphony in B minor, D. 759 (“Unfinished”). A lesson in Sturm und Drang; the two movement piece with its great emotional swings became most interesting in its heavenly final moments which transitioned without interruption into the darkness of Alban Berg’s Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op.6. Berg borrows not only technique but a little bit of music from Gustav Mahler (particularly form Mahler’s Sixth Symphony) to create this work. Franz Welser–Most and the orchestra precisely performed the opening chaotic movement with its disorientating trippy Mahlerian melody. Mr. Welser-Most grounded the work in the second movement which contained fascinating rambling of musical thoughts. The chaotic finale blossomed with a musical sensation akin to the visual beauty of the collapsing of an imploding building. With the majority of the audience a bit stunned after this hammer blow to their senses, Mr. Welser-Most ran back on stage for an encore of Johann Strauss II, Tales from the Vienna Woods, a waltzy piece of music. A bit like showing a cartoon after an Ingmar Bergman film, but the audience seemed to appreciate the refreshment. A little bit of gaiety prior to the harsh conditions awaiting outside the doors of Severance Hall. from Cool Cleveland contributor Brian Schriefer briancpa@msn.com
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