Ingrid Fliter performs Chopin
The centrepiece of this week’s SSO concert was Chopin’s first piano concerto, Op. 11, played by leading Chopin interpreter Argentinian Ingrid Fliter
Ingrid Fliter Pic: Gary Houlder
It was bookended by works of early German romanticism, inspired by Gothic castles, misty mountains and troubled heroes but presented in the classical forms by Schumann and Mendelssohn, both of whom knew Chopin, and each other. The three composers were born in 1809 and 1810, and only Schumann survived beyond 1850, so we were focussed on a particular period of musical history.
The concerto, which dates from Chopin’s early years in Poland, was first performed in Warsaw in 1830, the year of Berlioz’s Symphonie fantastique. Chopin’s orchestration skills are commonly considered inferior to his mastery of the piano, and in this work Ingrid Fliter interspersed the rather stolid orchestral interludes with passages of coruscating brilliance in the first movement, limpid cantabile in the second, and crisp clarity in the rondo finale. As an encore, she played a solo piece of mesmerising beauty – unfamiliar to me, but I understand that it was one of Chopin’s Nocturnes, a perfect miniature in the composer’s mature later style, in a performance that was simply spellbinding.
Schumann also is more at home in his lieder and piano music than in his symphonic works. His overture Manfred is based on Byron’s dramatic poem of 1817; it was composed in 1848, quite late in Schumann’s career, well after his 1840 golden year of song, and when his episodes of mental illness had become significant. It begins abruptly, as befits the troubled Manfred, and takes us through a variety of themes and motifs before ending quietly with Manfred’s death. The piece is not particularly descriptive or dramatic, compared for instance with the overtures of Beethoven, and the performance, though expertly done, left a sombre impression.
After interval, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3, known as the Scottish, brought us to a composer whose orchestral language is brilliantly accomplished and accessible. Although Mendelssohn uses the classical four-movement pattern, he instructed that the movements be played without a break, and uses the opening theme as a unifying element, referring to it again in the last movement, before introducing a new theme in A major which leads to a joyful and uplifting conclusion. Under the Brazilian conductor, Eduoardo Strasser, the orchestra excelled in this piece, which gave ample opportunity for woodwinds, horns, trumpets and strings to demonstrate their musicality, virtuosity and sense of ensemble.
Sydney Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Eduoardo Strasser
Opera House Concert Hall, Wednesday 30 October 2024
