<<  -- 8 --  Bill Newman    BERLIN FESTIVAL DIARY

From the final section through to the overwhelming closing pages, arms and hands aloft he brought his players through to the end of the most musical and exciting performance I can remember. What a contrast to the frenetic Kirov Orchestra/Gergiev Prom at London's Royal Albert Hall.

His colleague Mariss Jansons, by contrast, devotes his energies towards encapsulating musical and technical detail for his players -- in this instance the Berlin Philharmonic in music by Bartók. Hungarian rubati phrasing dates back to a generation of conductors of the calibre of Dorati, Ferencsik, Solti, less so in Reiner and Szell, and instrumentalists Szakály, Gertler and Menuhin. Certain edges are smoothed over by present day performers, but enough was still evident when American Gil Shaham performed the 2nd Violin Concerto.

Here is a performance that has grown in stature. I was less convinced during the last two years when he performed and recorded the piece, but one sensed a positive sharing of musical ideas under Jansons. Here was a real tour de force of a reading. Amazingly, fresh details came through in the orchestral counterpoint -- a tribute to the conductor and the various sections -- and Shaham was meeting the challenge on all counts, visually as well as mentally. The slow movement was heart-meltingly beautiful.

Bartók's Concerto for Orchestra also showed a marked improvement on Jansons' much earlier EMI recording. The typical nuances and mysterious shifts of emphasis, ranging changes of rhythm and colour, and the exciting progressions are now far more in their rightful places; one was thrilled by the magnificent grasp of structures and the distilled contrasts. My only criticism was the fastish speed taken for the second movement -- 'Play of the Couples' -- where Bartók indicates crotchet=74 for his Allegretto scherzando. The playing, complete with poco ritardandos was magnificent, anyhow, and I have nothing but the highest praise for the rest.

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