A thus-far strong season at Carnegie Hall continued brilliantly with two outstanding concerts—on the evenings of Friday, November 8th and Saturday, November 10th—given by the superb musicians of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.

 

The first program, under the sterling direction of the esteemed Mariss Jansons, opened delightfully with a wonderful account of Richard Strauss’s exhilarating Four Symphonic Interludes from Intermezzo, featuring a charming “Travel Fever and Waltz Scene,” a lyrical “Dreaming by the Fireside,” a witty “At the Card-Table,” and an exuberant “Happy Ending.” The same composer’s magnificent Four Last Songs were then exquisitely interpreted by the extraordinary Diana Damrau, who looked especially glamorous. She gave a passionate rendition of “Spring,” followed by the more introspective “September,” the more somber “Going to Sleep,” and the autumnal “At Sunset.”

 

The second half of the evening was also marvelous, a terrific realization of Johannes Brahms’s magisterial Symphony No. 4, which began with a Mendelssohnian reading of the first movement followed by an enchanting Andante. The dance-like scherzo was succeeded by a dramatic finale. Ardent applause ensued in an entrancing encore: the same composer’s exceptionally famous and thrilling Hungarian Dance No. 5.

 

The second program was also excellent, eloquently conducted by the young Vasily Petrenko, replacing an ill Jansons. The evening opened pleasurably with a fine version Carl Maria von Weber’s ultimately joyous Overture to Euryanthe.

 

Renowned soloist Rudolf Buchbinder then took the stage for a lovely account of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s ineffable Piano Concerto No. 23, beginning with a sparkling, if subdued, reading of the first movement, followed by a haunting Adagio and a vivacious finale. An appreciative reception elicited a splendid encore: Alfred Grünfeld’s Soirée de Vienne, Op. 56, Concert Paraphrase on Waltzes from Die Fledermaus (after Johann Strauss II).

The concert closed most memorably with a masterful performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s highly original Symphony No. 10. The opening movement was solemn and powerful, while the scherzo was breathless and dazzling. The Allegretto was mysterious and suspenseful while the ingenious concluding movement was rendered arrestingly. An enthusiastic ovation drew forth another gratifying encore, the same composer’s Entr’acte (Allegretto) between Scenes 6 and 7 from Act III of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk.

 

I look forward to the next local appearance of these superior artists.