Grosses Festspielhaus
Tchaikovsky – Violin Concerto in D major,
op.35
Brahms – Symphony no.2 in D major, op.73
Anne-Sophie Mutter (violin)
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Riccardo Muti (conductor)
This concert, dedicated by Anne-Sophie
Mutter, the Vienna Philharmonic, and Riccardo Muti to the memory of Herbert von
Karajan took place on the date he traditionally reserved for concerts with that
orchestra. (I assume that to have been on account of the Feast of the
Assumption, which always catches me unawares in southern Germany and Austria.)
Mutter had played this concerto thirty years previously with Karajan and the
VPO in the Grosses Festspielhaus. I wonder how many in the audience then were
again in the audience this year: quite a few, I suspect. Brahms’s Second
Symphony was, of course, premiered by this very same orchestra, and this year’s
Festival offered a number of works whose first performance the VPO had given.
Although there was much to enjoy and
little to complain about, I could not help but ask whether there was a little
too much of the memorial to the concert. There is more, much more, to
music-making than excitement, but perhaps this tended a little too much to the
ritualistic. Mutter’s technique was quite beyond criticism, but occasionally, I
longed for something a little more surprising, whether from her or from the
orchestra. That said, I could not help but enjoy the splendidly old-world sound
of the opening tutti and Mutter’s response: rich and sweet. Vibrato and
portamento were very much part of her palette, but not at the expense of
centring the notes. Moreover, she could cut through the orchestra’s sound as if
she were Martha Argerich. The opening of the Canzonetta was beautifully hushed,
the audience the recipient of whispered confidences. Above all, it sang. And
then, the mood was transformed in a musical flash with the coming of the
finale. Structure was clear – and if it left a little to be desired, the fault
surely lay with the work rather than the performance. Expansive and urgent as
required, the movement might nevertheless have benefited from a little more
earthiness at times.
Too much D major in a concert? For my
ears, I am afraid so. But that was not the only problem with Muti’s Brahms. I
am all for slower tempi, but the first movement was off the scale, apparently a
slow movement. There is ‘autumnal’ Brahms and then there was this. It was
interesting, but I should not want to hear it like that again in a hurry. Counterpoint
in the development was unexpectedly forthright: something of a relief.
Thereafter, things picked up, although there was a true slow movement still to
come. That, the Adagio non troppo,
was memorable especially for the VPO cellos at the opening: like liquid
chocolate, darkly noble. Again, this was a grandly autumnal reading, but easier
to take. The change of mood for the ensuing Allegretto
grazioso was welcome. This was no less exquisite, but faster-moving,
lighter too. Perhaps the greatest contrast was nevertheless offered by the
finale: jubilant, although, quite rightly, not uncontestedly so. Brahms’s tale
was told frankly, without fuss, and was all the better for it. A gloriously
rich orchestral sound would surely have delighted the concert’s dedicatee.
