He has been a regular player in the Concertgebouw for decades. And yet aconcert conducted by the Hungarian conductor Iván Fischer (71) is alwayssurprising – in sound, structure or both. Last season, after 35 years ofcollaboration, Fischer became ‘honorary guest conductor’ of the ConcertgebouwOrchestra. About 40 years ago he founded his own Budapest Festival Orchesta inBudapest as a testing ground for experiments. This weekend offered the uniqueopportunity to listen to him on two successive evenings with both orchestras –and then also twice in Beethoven.
It was a tasting with fair starting qualifications. Both top orchestras are(with Fischer) tried and tested in Beethoven. In Amsterdam the entire symphonycycle was sounded live, with Budapest Fischer recorded them.
meaty applause
Beethoven’s Fifth sounded on Friday in the Concertgebouw Orchestra’smasterpiece series ‘Essentials’ in front of a packed hall. The average age wasaround thirty, at least one generation younger than normal – if not two. Eventhe applause sounded different; meatier. But that was just the beginning ofthe surprises.
Fischer, a pedigree educator who also speaks Dutch fluently through a previousmarriage, seized the opportunity to guide the audience through Beethoven’ssymphonic development with charming lay talks.
How shocking are those tragic opening notes of the Fifth (ta-ta-ta-taaa!!)actually? You got it after the orchestra played the opening passages of thefour preceding symphonies in a flash – with Fischer as commentator. “I knowmany people who always feel rushed,” he said of the first part (two thousandsighs of recognition). “This music is about that. She beats us! You now getmusic that scares you.”
The performance was excellent; clear, carried-out lilting in the ‘Andante'(“Listen now to Beethoven’s soul…”) and gossamer polyphony at the joyfulconclusion, with a stately, late rise of the trombones as an extra effect.
Orchestral fraternization
One drawback: because of the speeches you missed the larger-scale ecstasy that_Third Symphony_ Saturday was realized by the Budapest Festival Orchestra(BFO). There were two carefully chosen appetizers: Louis Andriessens indemocratic anti-aesthetic, which seems a bit dated Workers Union (1975) andMozart’s heavily played Concerto for Two Pianos with Arthur and Lucas Jussen,which garnered even more acclaim for the Fledermaus -fantasy; an extremelysuccessful encore, also in the tour that will follow, sponsored by the Dutchembassy.
Now the comparison could begin. Of course, music is not a competition, butwhen do you hear one conductor perform Beethoven with two orchestras?
Observation one: the BFO has something endearingly unruly. In the openingmovement of Beethoven’s Third the scales still remained closed, although thetransparency of the fast string figures aroused admiration here too. But itgot much better. The sound of the double bass group, arranged in the centerback, was unheard of, but of a velvety feel that caressed the ears all the wayto the back of the hall. Also striking: swelling figures in the strings hungdeep in the string. That characteristic and the fierce timbre of the horngroup made the ‘Scherzo’ a sensual pleasure. At the very end, the BFO sectionswere reinforced by 17 Concertgebouw Orchestra musicians. The music didn’t needit, but the effect was nevertheless spectacular.
The reverse stunt will follow in Budapest next week: Hungarian musicians willthen join the Concertgebouw Orchestra. After that, we have to wait for evenmore musical fraternization for Fischer’s return in February; then you can sitin the orchestra as a listener, shoulder to shoulder with the musicians.