Esa-Pekka Salonen: LA Variations
Ludwig van Beethoven: Violin Concerto D major, op. 61
Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Symphony no. 4 f minor, op. 36

Christoph Eschenbach
Roland Greutter, violin
NDR Sinfonieorchester
Musikhalle Hamburg, June 10, 2002

How does a programme as varied as this make for a coherent evening?
If you'd heard this concert, you'd know the answer: All this was
about colour.  Nonetheless, it's been quite a long evening, probably the
only downside of it.  Finnish composer-conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen's LA
Variations are if anything famous for their dazzling orchestral colour.
The NDR Sinfonieorchester and Christoph Eschenbach surely weren't shy of
showing that.  It proved to be quite different from Salonen's own rendering
as recorded by Sony.  The beginning was much less loud, already there it
became obvious that Eschenbach wasn't looking as much for extremes as for
coherence.  It never was as loud as Salonen's spectacular recording nor
quite as silent, the two violin solos at the end had considerably more
meat.  On the other hand, the tight motivic structure of the work became
very clear.  The work isn't only tied together by the opening explosion,
which occurs repeatedly, but also by the motif that appears shortly after,
in the first of twenty-odd variations.  This was to return frequently.
Eschenbach pulled it into light by giving the horns quite a lot of
prominence.  This wonderful work served in many ways as introduction and
showpiece: It showed the excellence of the orchestra - there was not a
single lapse, the ability of the conductor to take care of the long line
and the openness of the audience for new music.  The percussionists
couldn't always resist the temptation to dance along with the music,
neither could some members of the brass and the audience.  It's good to
see that there is contemporary music that is both fun and serious.  The
applause was deservedly strong, especially when the composer came on stage.
One should think that Beethoven's Violin Concerto would be worlds apart
from the homage at Los Angeles and its orchestra.  This evening was to
prove that the gap isn't quite as wide.  Before the music started,
Christoph Eschenbach turned to the audience and explained the uncommon
appearance of a piano in a violin concerto.  He pointed out that there
was no candenza by Beethoven for the Violin Concerto, but one for his
arrangement of it for piano. He and the soloist Roland Greutter
transcribed this cadenza for piano and timpani to a trio-cadenza for piano,
violin and timpani.  Eschenbach ended by saying that 'this has the huge
advantage of all notes being from Beethoven'.  The orchestra was greatly
reduced, the HIP movement apparently has its influence on Eschenbach.  It
was a chamber orchestra of perhaps 50 musicians, the soloist playing with
the first violins in tuttis.  The small orchestra guaranteed for clean
textures but wasn't at the expense of lush sonorities and 'romantic'
phrasing and generous application of rubato.  Roland Greutter, concert
master of the orchestra, wasn't always infallible in intonation but he
listened very closely to the orchestra.  Indeed, this wasn't only a
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, but also a Concerto for Orchestra and
Violin.  This made up for the questionable intonation and then some.  The
cadenza surely was surprising.  It didn't sound entirely in place, but was
oddly effective.  Christoph Eschenbach played the piano himself.  The slow
movement was taken at a fresh pace.  Here Roland Greutter's technical
problems didn't show up, and at the end he played a fully-grown cadenza,
which made a truly stunning transition into the finale, again quick.  This
sparkled of fun, and there were two cadenzas: One shorter for violin solo
and one for piano and violin, with the timpani adding the work's opening
beats at the end.  Marvellous.  The orchestra was throughout the concert as
excellent as it had been before.  After the interval, the evening concluded
with Tchaikovsky's fourth symphony.  To make it easy: this was by far the
most exciting account of it I have ever heard.  The first movement began
tensely dramatic and built up to ever higher climaxes.  Especially the
molto piu mosso coda was taken at a neck-breaking speed - no problem for
the orchestra, though.  The slow movement flowed nicely, without being too
fast.  The woodwinds played most expressively.  The odd Scherzo again was
staggeringly fast.  I couldn't but marvel at the precision of the plucked
strings and whirling flutes.  Of course, the finale crowned everything,
again quite fast.  The opening was a thrilling as one could wish.  The
music then relaxed a bit, to only grow more and more tension up to the
return of the motto theme, which was earth-shattering indeed.  Eschenbach
accelerated the pace again until the audience nearly applauded before the
music was over.  You think this is rude? You're right, but sometimes you
just can't avoid doing it.  Anyone who thinks that classical music might be
dead shouldn't have any doubts left after such a concert.  A long, but very
rewarding evening.  Bravo!

"Jan Templiner" <[log in to unmask]>