Bach & Beethoven with the New York Philharmonic

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 07 October 2024 19:29

Written by Jack Angstreich

Photo by Chris Lee

At Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall, on the evening of Saturday, October 5th, I had the great pleasure to attend a superb concert presented by the the New York Philharmonic, under the confident direction of the eminent guest conductor, Manfred Honeck.

The program began strongly with an impressive reading of Ludwig van Beethoven’s magnificent Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92. The Vivace, initial movement opens slowly and quietly—although not without intimations of drama—with a Poco sostenuto introduction; the movement’s main body, however, is propulsive, exultant and triumphant, if with some subdued passages, and with anticipations of Felix Mendelssohn. The especially celebrated Allegretto that follows has a majestic quality that prefigures the first movement of Franz Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony; it becomes more animated and fugue-like before its gentler conclusion. The ensuing, sometimes rambunctious Presto is energetic, even ebullient, with a Trio that is statelier and more grand in character; the movement closes abruptly and unexpectedly. The exuberant, Allegro con brio finale sustains an astonishing momentum, with strikingly contrasting softer sections.

The second half of the event was comparable in power: a masterly rendition of the extraordinary Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 of Johannes Brahms—from 1858—expertly performed by the brilliant virtuoso, Víkingur Ólafsson. The Maestoso first movement begins extremely dramatically, but for all its impassioned turbulence, the music also often has a moody inwardness. The succeeding Adagio—to my mind, the most exquisite of the work’s movements—is even more introspective and lyrical, while the expressive, dynamic Rondo finale, marked Allegro non troppo, is imbued with an intense Romanticism. Enthusiastic applause elicited an amazingly beautiful encore from the soloist: Johann Sebastian Bach’s E minor Prelude, BWV 855, here arranged for piano in B minor by Alexander Siloti—Ólafsson has recorded this piece in an excellent album devoted to music of the composer.

I look forward to what promises to be a wonderful season for the ensemble.

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