A Catalytic Combo

We must rejoice that Riccardo Chailly has decided to stay with the Gewandhausorchester until 2020. There are few conductor and orchestra combinations that rival theirs today. There may be more refined partnerships, but nothing beats the thrill of hearing these musicians put through their paces by so driven a Kapellmeister. It is as if the adrenalin will last forever, as evinced over the past two evenings by their superb performances of Brahms at the Barbican.

I have eulogised enough about the new Leipzig Brahms recordings; suffice it to say that the qualities I relished on disc were highlighted in concert. Their rendition of the  First Symphony is branded with tenacity, writ large. It is an interpretation that is as richly voiced as anything you'll hear in Berlin or Vienna, but played as if it were the most urgent modernist score. Brahms the progressive indeed.

The Second Symphony is, of course, an initially meeker affair, for which Chailly conjures a mellow fruitfulness, before providing a dazzling solar display in the Finale. It was in that spirit that Arcadi Volodos played the Second Piano Concerto, providing suitably muscular and then silk-like textures, for which Chailly allowed space and breath.

Volodos was, perhaps, a more suitable partner for Chailly's Brahms than Leonidas Kavakos and Enrico Dindo were in the Double Concerto on Tuesday evening. Kavakos is, of course, a superb player – he, Chailly and the Gewandhausorchester have just recorded the Brahms Violin Concerto – yet there was an element of him playing down to Dindo, who, while fine, is just not Kavakos's match. You hungered for more grandstanding, which Chailly and the orchestra's other performances were more than happy to provide. Nonetheless, the Gewandhaus players remained undimmed by the more muted core to the Double Concerto, bringing terrific punch to the tuttis.

That, ultimately, is what is so thrilling about their playing under Chailly. You may not agree wholeheartedly with the interpretation – friends and colleagues were not entirely convinced by Chailly's decidedly driven Beethoven – but you cannot deny their spirit or intent. Gleefully brushing away the dust of routine, on which many orchestras sadly rely, Chailly and the Gewandhausorchester always make you listen afresh. That is, for me, the name of the musical game. The Brahms cycle continues next week with the Third Symphony and First Piano Concerto on Tuesday night and the Violin Concerto and Fourth Symphony on Wednesday.

Tweet