Ludwig van Beethoven:
Piano Concerto no. 2 in B flat major op. 19
Piano Concerto no. 4 in G major op. 58
Igor Stravinsky:
Concerto in E flat – Dumbarton Oaks
Septet for clarinet, bassoon, horn, violin, viola, cello and piano

Before I start, this will be a relatively short review for various reasons. Mostly because I unfortunately didn’t have time to write a long one. Here it goes:

I travelled for yet another concert this past Sunday: the last scheduled one of this year. As you can see from the above, the concert programme had music from Stravinsky and Beethoven. One of which I am not so familiar with, the other I am.

The music of Stravinsky started the concert with music I admit I’ve known about for years but never really wanted to listen to. The Concerto in E flat ‘Dumbarton Oaks’ is named after a house where the first performance was held in 1938. You can read about the music and also follow the link to an article to the house here.

When asked about the concerto by his publisher he said “A little concerto in the style of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos“. Stravinsky was expert in eluding to other composers music but still sounding as his own. Try his earlier ballet Pulcinella.

In the first movement violas have a Bach reference, but throughout the movement each of the players have their own solos which showcased the wonderful sound this orchestra can make. Short motifs develop into complicated counterpoint. There are also frequent rhythmic changes as well as constant syncopation. The rest of the work was along these lines with references to music of Boccherini, Haydn and Mozart as well of Bach of course. I noticed that the string players didn’t use any vibrato which is common now-a-days in period instrument performances but not for the music of Stravinsky. I think Bach would have approved!

You can listen to it here in a recording from the 1970′s:

Leif Ove Andsnes made his first concerto appearance at the NCH. He is in the process of recording all the Beethoven piano concertos with the Mahler Chamber Orchestra. He made his recording debut with Sony Classical, with the concertos no. 1 and 3 last year, and I presume is recording the two that were played that evening soon. He played, as well as conducted the orchestra, the piano facing them, so from my angle I couldn’t see much of what he was playing. I said he conducted the orchestra – he waved his hands a little when not playing but I think the orchestra were on autopilot most of the time. Normally with a conductor-less orchestra the first violin moves around (in this case) her chair a lot directing each player but not that night. He played both concertos with great clarity and poise, I’ll certainly find the recordings of these when they’re released.  The orchestra had a fabulous sound particularly the woodwind and brass. Top class!

Have a listen to the concertos 1 &3 below:

The other Stravinsky music was his septet which I found quite boring and mathematical. Written in 1953, it’s from his third compositional phase. Thankfully it was short. As the composer, writing to his wife Vera, said of its first performance: ‘Septet, received indifferently well by a young audience’. It was the same in the NCH…

Have a listen to it below:

All in all an entertaining and interesting concert. I heard music I knew quite well (Beethoven), music I avoided before and appreciated it now (Stravinsky Dumbarton) and others I didn’t (Septet) but a good night out all the same!