Dezső Ránki (piano), Concerto Budapest, András Keller (conductor) at The Palace of Arts, March 16th
Concerto Budapest (formerly Magyar Telekom Symphony Orchestra), it has to be said, is a very good orchestra. The players took everything in their stride and gave a very accomplished performance. In the first half, they produced some magical sounds in the masterly orchestral textures of Bartók’s second piano concerto, but then they had Dezső Ránki at the piano and he is a Bartók interpreter of the highest order.
This was a wonderful performance. Ránki handled the virtuoso sections with tremendous aplomb, while the subtlety of the more contemplative passages was very affecting. In the slow movement, the strings (silent in the first movement) had a perfect shimmering quality and there was some very fine work, too by the timpanist – a memorable performance which made the whole evening worthwhile.
But what of the Beethoven? He is one of the great composers, and we do not dismiss the King Stephen Overture as trivia but, in the great scheme of things, it is relatively unimportant. The ‘Eroica’, on the other hand, is a masterpiece on a grand scale.
It is about 15 years since John Eliot Gardiner blew the doors open on Beethoven’s symphonies and allowed the light to come streaming in with his authentic performance recordings. For this writer, these recordings set the standard by which all period instrument versions should be judged. They were a revelation, but they also opened a flood gate. Suddenly, we were regaled with performance in which tempi well suited to period instrument performance were imposed on modern ensembles usually with depressing results.
We have no idea whether András Keller used Beethoven’s metronome markings, but if he did, he was skating on very thin ice indeed. Reliance on tempo indications for a symphony composed in 1804 which uses technology (the metronome) of which Beethoven had no knowledge until 1816 is a dangerous business. Keller was simply too quick. The first movement was brisk enough to feel lightweight and the intense inner struggle which is the hallmark of this movement was lost in the torrent of notes. The funeral march fared a little better, but was still a bit over paced and one sensed a slowing of pulse – real or imagined – prior to the angry outburst midway through which was the only way of pulling it back into line. The ‘Eroica’ is very much a symphony of two parts, and there is a case for throwing caution to the wind in the second half but, if you do so, you have to make a clear distinction between the scherzo and the trio so that the wonderful horn calls have room to breathe, otherwise they simply sound tinny. Of course, the finale, in which you really can let your hair down, fared best but by then the magic was no more. At times, this felt more like an attempt on a speed record than ascent to a higher plane. There is a very fine line between heroism and recklessness – a line which was crossed on this occasion too often for comfort.
Sad to report, but this reviewer went home and sought solace in his archive. Come back Dr. Klemperer, all is forgiven.
Palace of Arts (Béla Bartók National Concert Hall, Festival Theater)
1095 Budapest, Komor Marcell utca 1.
MAP III. K6
www.mupa.hu