Don Juan - Strauss
Piano Concerto in C minor K491 - Mozart
Cos∅ fan tutte Overture - Mozart
Rosenkavalier Suite - Strauss
The programme for the National Symphony Orchestra's Irish tour strikes a neat balance between contrast and unity. Despite the widely differing styles of Mozart and Richard Strauss, the latter was a classicist at heart and admired Mozart as the epitome of Classical perfection.
This link was underlined by the playing in the tour's opening concert, at the National Concert Hall last Friday night. Mozart's Cos∅ fan tutte Overture and Piano Concerto in C minor K491 were played with medium-sized string sections, and aimed for clarity of texture and precision of balance.
John O'Conor's solo playing was always precisely shaped and coloured, and full of finesse. It featured some beautiful timing in this concerto's most extraordinary moments, such as the final 6/8 variation in the Finale.
Despite this strong solo contribution, exemplary balance and co-ordination between orchestra and soloist, Gerhard Markson's nicely judged speeds, and the orchestra's responsiveness and security, the concerto rarely made the impact which one looks for. The orchestral sound was held-back and lacking in that passion for which this work was so admired by the Romantics. The performance seemed not to have hit the right balance between the soloist's precise expression and a corresponding style for the size of orchestra.
This was a disappointment, coming as it did after a scintillating account of Strauss's Don Juan. There and in the concluding Rosenkavalier Suite, everything seemed right. The extreme range of contrasts was held together through precise orchestral balance, clarity of texture, and firm rhythmic focus. The suite's outrageous parade of styles was a reminder of Hindemith's view of Strauss - that he was, above all, an accomplished poseur. But this clear performance, which completely avoided bombast, was a reminder that the music works because of its composer's astonishing understanding of Classical principles.
This programme will be repeated in Galway (tonight), Limerick (28th), Cork (29th) and Waterford (30th)
