Stream: RSNO Beethoven’s Piano Concerto 3
The RSNO welcomes a new conductor for this concert. Tabita Berglund from Norway replaces Carlos Miguel Prieto who is unable to travel to Scotland. She tells us that it’s her first time conducting Beethoven’s Piano Concerto no 3, and as it’s the middle one of his five concertos, she finds it a transitional piece, “neither fish nor bird” in which it is “tricky to find your way.” It’s like “exploring a new jungle for me.” The pianist Boris Giltburg, a regular soloist with the RSNO, expresses similar sentiments. He senses “a feeling of unfolding adventure” in the work, with “desperation in the last movement”, but as ever with Beethoven “light and life will prevail.”
It’s always a pleasure to hear the views of musicians on the works they’re playing, and these straightforward personal comments are a good introduction to the concerto. Brian Bannatyne-Scott in his review of the Beethoven Violin Concerto has given a clear description of the distanced layout in the RSNO Glasgow studio. The only thing to add is that in this concert the piano faces the conductor, and is behind the first semi-circle of string players. It’s a layout we see sometimes in chamber concerts, and here it may make it easier for the conductor to communicate with the pianist. I don’t think it affects the sound at all, though it’s bit disorientating when we see the close-ups of the keyboard from the “wrong angle.” (My RSNO season ticket was for many years Stalls Row C, seat 28 where I had a perfect view of the pianist’s hands in a Piano Concerto!)
The concerto opens in traditional fashion with an orchestral exposition of the theme before the soloist’s entry. Formally, as Giltberg and Berglund have acknowledged, much of this concerto looks backwards to the 18h century. The Allegro first section is Mozartian in style too, and Giltburg’s delicate touch here is appropriate. There are lovely quiet moments when he accompanies the theme in the woodwind. Berglund is precise in her conducting of these softer sections. But the movement is also marked con brio and the more radical Beethoven of the Eroica Symphony appears too in the tempestuous orchestral sections. The last part of the movement is heralded by trumpets. Then follows a virtuosic coda for the soloist in which he employs a heavier touch with left hand chords accompanying arpeggios in the right hand, alternating with delicate recapitulations of the theme. The coda ends in a trill which is picked up by muffled timpani, and quiet strings, but rapidly moves through a crescendo for full orchestra to its shattering conclusion. The control of pianist, conductor and orchestra are terrific here. This is the first newly recorded concert for full orchestra I’ve heard in this covid/digital age and it’s a great sound, quite different in scale from the smaller-scale events which we’ve become more used to hearing.
The shorter second movement is one of Beethoven’s beautiful slow melodies. The serene theme is laid out by solo piano, and then picked up by the orchestra. The woodwind, horn and lower strings introduce another theme playing with the piano, and I wonder if the cellists’ closeness to the piano helps the sound here.
Without a pause we’re straight into the third movement, a rondo, marked allegro. It’s a jolly sounding tune initially with some light playful touches– not at all like the “desperation” Giltburg has suggested. Then the more ominous presence of the brass and timpani signal a more sinister edge. There’s brief respite in a lyrical solo for the oboe, and an unusual fugue for the strings before the piano unleashes a loud dramatic recapitulation with full orchestra in which the brass and timpani dominate.. But, as promised, light emerges in a brisk coda and the crescendo this time leads to a joyous conclusion.
After concertos the RSNO practice in performance is to give the soloist a chance to perform an encore before the interval. Here they’ve cheated a little, in that the “encore” is programmed. (It certainly saves these interval discussions in which you try to find out from more knowledgeable friends – or those with better hearing – the name of the piece which the soloist has quietly announced!)| The last movement of Beethoven’s Sonata 109 at 12 minutes is a bit more than an encore. It’s much later Beethoven – early 1820s as opposed to the concerto which dates from 1803, and it’s one of only two slow final movements among his Sonatas
The movement is a theme with six variations. The gentle hymn-like melody is laid out plainly, and the cantabile style predominates in the earlier variations. Beethoven’s direction is “songfully with utmost feeling”, and the feelings gradually take over in the ever more intense later variations. Gilberg is as accomplished in the expansive difficult music as in the Bach-like precision of the theme. Very enjoyable and certainly a good deal more than an encore!
Sibelius Symphony No 7 is a change to the published programme, perhaps Bergland’s choice. It’s certainly a piece she knows well. “Sibelius is close to my heart,” she tells us. This is “his final symphony where he had found his form and his method.” I find the conductor’s comments more helpful here than the programme notes. Mark Parker’s description of the genesis of the work in the recently independent Finland, and Sibelius’s personal struggles with alcoholism are illuminating. But I didn’t find his emphasis on the ambiguities and formlessness of the work an aid to enjoyment.
The trick for me was to follow the conductor, who seems to have found a path though the ambiguity. In her reading, the one-movement symphony can be said to fall into four sections, each of the first three ending in a brass-dominated crescendo culminating in a fanfare/chorale for three trombones. Each section has a dominant mood or theme (although interspersed with other musical ideas from time to time). After each trombone section there’s a dissipation of tension , and a change of mood.
The first section has an anthem-like opening on the strings with long lines soaring to an orchestral climax. There’s a lighter, brisker section for winds, and eventually starting from the lower strings and brass a climax builds through which the trombones eventually burst through in a chorale. It’s noticeable how Bergland drives the players through these climaxes, not letting the tension relax.
I should mention that there are more players on stage here than in the Beethoven – 53 players are credited as being “on stage” – a fair number for a socially distanced performance. It certainly pays off in the symphony, not just in the weight and force of the louder sections, but in the breadth and variety of the effects especially in the winds and brass.
The second “movement” is faster and lighter, with playful woodwind figures, and pizzicato in the upper strings. Underlying this skittishness is a repeated beat in the timpani. Eventually again this builds through the orchestra to another trombone fanfare, more threatening in tone this time.
The third section again begins cheerfully, with a gentler pastoral theme in which the higher winds predominate – I think a piccolo makes a brief appearance. Bergland noticeably smiles and relaxes this point! The pace of the theme picks up and is briefly interrupted by strong timpani and brass. A bucolic dance emerges, until again, a crescendo builds to a third trombone motif, this time accompanied by a hymn-like theme in the strings.
The final movement is shorter. The strings are accompanied by quiet trumpets, and after a short burst of noise, strings, horn and woodwind play out an optimistic theme, leading to a final triumphant chord.
The concert has marked a happy return for Boris Giltburg. He has completed his recording of the first two Beethoven concertos for Naxos, and on the basis of this performance the complete set will be well worth hearing. Tabitha Bergland has made her mark in her first appearance. She’s a thoughtful musician who worked sympathetically with the soloist in the concerto and who prepared the orchestra well for the challenging Sibelius symphony. Without showiness or over-confidence, she has demonstrated her ability to take charge, and RSNO audiences will, I hope, see her again in the near future.
I would reiterate Brian’s comments on the good value that these online performances represent, and would urge readers of the EMR to support the RSNO by buying tickets for the series.
Finally, a footnote. The concert tonight was introduced and signed off by Principal Trombonist, Davur Juul Magnussen, a genial host who also led his team in these trombone fanfares. Astonishingly, Davur, only 22 when he was appointed to the position, has been with the orchestra for over 11 years. I’ve just checked that it’s nearly ten years ago since he was the soloist in the Trombone Concerto by Nathaniel Shilkret, written for Tommy Dorsey in the 1940s. The work, believed lost for many years was reconstituted after diligent work by former RSNO trombonist, Brian Free.
Those of us with good memories and even better wellies may recall the snowy evening of 3rd December 2010, when a sadly depleted Usher Hall audience relished this Gershwin-like forgotten gem, in a brilliant performance by its young soloist. At the time I wrote to the RSNO asking if there was any way that the piece could be reprogrammed to give more people a chance to hear it. As far as I know it’s never happened – and it may be that Davur, who has many interesting musical irons in the fire, may no longer be interested. But as a piece of attractive “new” repertoire, I think it’s still worth considering.
