<<  -- 9 --  Bill Newman    BERLIN FESTIVAL DIARY

The indisposition of Claudio Abbado meant substitutions for his events, and I gratefully accepted the appearance of Gennadi Rozhdestvensky for an all-Stravinsky evening with the Berlin Phil. Way back, I relished their memorable Mahler 3 that was broadcast on BBC Radio 3. I think that the practice of critics making comparisons with the composer's own performances by using stopwatch timings has become outmoded.

Far from suggesting an older musician's advancing decline in powers in comparison with earlier performances and recordings, Rozhdestvensky's broader, slower readings are nothing of the kind. Here is a musical maestro at the height of his eminence who brings forth the exact ingredients of what scores are all about. The early Le Roi des étoiles, the masterly Symphony of Psalms -- dare I say his greatest work -- and, at just under the hour, the complete Firebird ballet, was indeed a concert to remember!

The clarity of stick technique is, as often discussed, the means of carrying out all the musical intentions. Apart from that rather hazardous gear change at the point where there is a pause on the chorus's high note -- the Swedish Radio Choir -- which leads in to the coda of Symphony of Psalms, where precise ensemble was marginally at fault, this was remarkable music-making. How pleasing also that Katshei's Dance in The Firebird was, for once, not rushed off its feet. Outstanding!

Two further events complete my survey. A journey on the U-Bahn to Stattmitte or Französische Straße for The Konzerthaus, housed in the celebrated Schauspielhaus (Playhouse). It is situated between two cathedrals -- a German Dom and French cathédrale -- and together they form the unique ensemble of the Gendarmenmarkt, one of the most beautiful city squares in Europe.

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