Even after two memorable nights in San Francisco's Davies Hall with Lorin
Maazel and the Bavarian Radio Symphony, I am still grumbling about the
program. Two concerts, the four Brahms symphonies. Does that make sense?

At the risk - no, certainty - of severe public censure, I feel that the
Brahms 1-2-3-4 will not provide sufficient variety to experience an
orchestra fully. In New York, at least, the Bavarians "mixed" Brahms
concerti and symphonies. For us, symphonies only. Here's a rule I just
made up: if, for some unfathomable reason, you want to tour with only
four symphonies of one composer, Mozart, Beethoven and Mahler are OK;
Haydn, Schumann, Bruckner, Brahms, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak are not. Yes,
I will be handed my head for sure, but here I stand, I cannot feel
otherwise.

Getting over the grumble part, the concerts were superb, and there was
variety enough in the quality of performance. The opening No. 3 came
from a well-oiled machine, the following No. 1 had far more heart and
excitement than the first half of the concert. The next night, both No.
2 and No. 4 were as fine as it gets... just short of the magic of No.
1.

Maazel was splendid. With all his attention on the orchestra, without
a slightest interest in impressing the audience, Maazel led faithful
performances of the highest integrity. (A musician in the audience said
after the concerts that she now understands why the NY Philharmonic
*players*, more than management, wanted him to be their music director.)

Except for most of No. 1 and parts of No. 4, Maazel did not surpass the
great standards one carries into the concert hall for these works, but
his simplicity, lack of artifice, his dedication to the composer, and
effort to keep the music fresh were thrilling. Maazel has everything
with the single, crucial, exception of whatever it is that makes Simon
Rattle exceed those "best" memories of old.

The Bavarians are among the hardest-working orchestra musicians I've
seen.  They responded to Maazel gloriously, strings and brass were
uniformly outstanding, the woodwinds even better than that. Stefan Schilli
(oboe), Stefan Schilling (no kidding, clarinet), Philippe Boucly (flute),
and Eberhard Marschall (bassoon) are among the best in Europe... or
anywhere.

Even at times when that "something extra" was missing from the orchestra's
playing, the clarity and accuracy of the sound they produced consistently
impressed, as did the visitors' ability to adjust to the hall perfectly.
What I would have given for a major Berlioz or Strauss from them! Didn't
Strauss hang out more in Munich than Brahms?

Janos Gereben/SF
www.sfcv.org
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