Philharmonia Orchestra ★★★✩✩
Direction: Masaaki Suzuki, director. Soloist: Jean-Guihen Queyras, cello. Place and date: Palau de la Música (IV/22/24)
The Bachian maestro Suzuki visited us this time with a good orchestra and a program worthy of good symphony, which leads me to think about the interest of some directors specialized in the baroque, who aspire to conduct works of opulent romanticism. It is understandable, but it is not always convenient.
The program opened with Beethoven's Egmont op 84 overture, in a performance that revealed good management of the tensions of the speech, and the opulence and dynamism typical of a dramatic overture. Orchestra and conductor understood the demands of the score, eloquent in sound although never – especially the timpani – dominant in a superficial sense. In these small works by Beethoven, the director's capacity for understanding and expression is manifested, in this case very successful.
Schumann's Concerto in A minor for cello is one of the shining works for good soloists, on this occasion an interpretation with the guarantee of Queyras, who after the first phrases of the first movement left us an exquisite version, in a work whose demands and complex compositional structure require a high commitment from the director, orchestra and soloist, subtle and eloquent, this one being precise, and in good dialogue with the orchestra.
Suzuki carefully followed the sometimes intricate Schumanian language, reading the score almost as if in a chamber version in good harmony with the other performers.
The orchestra is excellent, and capable of carrying out great symphony works such as Dvorak's Sixth Symphony alone. It is true that there is rehearsal work on the part of the director, but in this case the maestro's attention was concentrated on entrances, always attentive to the score, and little management of nuances, in a work that needs them because, apart from its eloquent theme, it demands attention. in depth given its still schematic structure. Excellent solo flute work and woodwinds in general in the framework of a concert that leaves little memory, very formal, both in content and expression.
