Take it away Ludwig!
A music review by Fraser McBeath McEwing
Following the performance of Beethoven’s third symphony and third piano concerto last year led by Simone Young and Spanish pianist Javier Perianes, a different Beethoven symphony and a piano concerto had been juxtaposed featuring the same musicians, this time performing the Beethoven 6th symphony and 4th piano concerto. But when Simone Young called in sick the baton was tossed to home-grown Benjamin Northey. However, that didn’t interrupt Perianeses’ ongoing plan to work through all the Beethoven piano concertos, over time, with the SSO.
Benjamin Northey
Even with the change of conductor, last night’s concert was a sure-fire bums-on-seats event, with its two major works by Beethoven preceded by a brief appetiser in the 50 Fanfares Commission.
Mary Finsterer is one of the better-known of the 50 Fanfares composers. Her music has been played in Europe, Britain, USA and Canada and she has a well-stocked trophy cabinet from her awards. Like many of her contemporaries, she has put composing energy into film music – with some success. She is currently composer–in–residence for the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra and is also the CALE Creative Fellow at the College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania. Since my exploration of Finsterer’s music came up with some listening challenges, I was interested to hear how she would fill her 10 Fanfares minutes.
In a word, it was stunning. It began with a stirring blast from the trumpets, then lapsed into virtual silence from which tiny seeds of sounds grew into a grand forest, marshalling the power of the whole orchestra. The piece was called Stabat Mater – Movement 1 (2023) and, for me, has shot to the front of the unofficial rankings of the Fanfares series. I hope the title tells us that there are more movements to come because I want to hear them.
Beethoven’s 4th piano concerto was premiered privately in 1807 but had to wait another year for its public unveiling in Vienna, with Beethoven as soloist, hammering away on what he probably thought was an unresponsive piano. It was a marathon concert and included premiers of both the 5th and 6th symphonies.
The 4th piano concerto was well received but faded from favour until Felix Mendelssohn took a fancy to performing it. Today it rivals the mighty Emperor in popularity. It was the second-most performed piano concerto Carnegie Hall in 2021 where it notched up 192 outings.
I was doubly ready for an outstanding rendition of the 4th, having heard Javier Persianes last year playing the 3rd and, more recently, in a recital at the Sydney City Recital Hall, where he brought extraordinary authenticity to a mostly Spanish program. Moreover, if there was a prize for the world’s best triller, I think he would win it with his hummingbird evocation.
One of the oddities of this concerto is the number of leading pianists who have written their own cadenza. Although very much the norm during Beethoven’s time, it is seldom done now. Persianes had a least 30 to choose from.
The reading that Persianes gave the concerto was romantic and subtle rather than spiky – as many pianists present it. He is a master of pianissimo, no doubt enhanced by the good seat I had. I didn’t miss a note but wondered whether those with more obscure seating were as fortunate. The same applied to his encore, a Chopin nocturne, which was exquisite.
Fraser Beath McEwing
While Beethoven didn’t go in for giving nicknames to his music, he did so with his Symphony No. 6, Op. 68. In addition to being called Pastoral, he ascribed visuals to each of its five movements. Written over a five-year period, it was premiered in 1808. Although we often think of Beethoven as something of a tragic tragic, he had a great liking for the simplicity of long walks in the country. Interestingly, he was working on the fifth symphony at the same time as the sixth, which may lead to the conclusion that he sought a balance between the hand of fate and the hand of nature.
Beethoven describes the five movements as: ‘Awakening of happy feelings on arrival in the country, Scene by the brook, Peasants’ merrymaking, Thunderstorm, Shepherd’s song of thanksgiving after the storm.’ The music is unashamedly visual, with a realistic evocation of a storm in the fourth movement.
I liked the way Northey had conducted the SSO over the last two years, and last night confirmed it. It is heartening to see a boy from Ballarat make it to the top in classical conducting. Northey earned his stripes as chief conductor of the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra in New Zealand and he recently became the principal conductor in residence of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Before emerging as a conductor, Northey did stints as a pit accompanist, composer, arranger and recording session musician.
His tempi in Beethoven’s sixth was as reassuring as Baby Bear’s bed, while the storm in the fourth movement was right up there with the scariest of them.
It rounded out one of the most enjoyable concerts I have been to during my many years of reviewing.
SSO Sydney Opera House concert 2 August 2023
Fraser Beath McEwing is a pianist, commentator on classical music performance and is a founding member of The theme & Variations Foundation which assists talented young Australian pianists. His professional background is in journalism, editing and publishing. He is also the author of five novels and a Governor of the Sir Moses Montefiore Home. A body of his work can be found on www.frasersblography.com
