United Kingdom PROM 14 – Tüür, Beethoven, Bruckner: Yunchan Lim (piano), BBC Symphony Orchestra / Paavo Järvi (conductor). Royal Albert Corridor, London, 29.7.2024. (MBr)
Erkki-Sven Tüür – Aditus
Beethoven – Piano Concerto No.5 in E-flat main, ‘Emperor’
Bruckner – Symphony No.1 in C minor (1877 Linz model, ed. Nowak)
There was, after all, a full home for this BBC Promenade – no less than for Beethoven’s ‘Emperor’; poor Bruckner, in his two hundredth anniversary 12 months, didn’t fairly handle to maintain the corridor packed to the rafters for the primary Promenade’s efficiency of the 1877 Linz model of his First Symphony, the only work within the second half.
Classical musicians have all the time endured some form of obsessive attraction with audiences, going again to Paganini. This in all probability sits rather less comfortably with somebody like Yunchan Lim (and is presumably extra intrusive in some nations than others) nevertheless it appeared fairly restrained at this live performance. True, not your entire Korean neighborhood of New Malden had upped sticks from Zone 4 and travelled to the Royal Albert Corridor for Lim’s debut; however then, what we’d describe because the nuclear household, hardly makes for fandom both. How charming to see so many younger kids at this live performance – though this, too, is widespread for Yunchan Lim recitals and concert events.
If one seems to be at among the pianists who’ve carried out the ‘Emperor’ on the Proms – Myra Hess (5 instances), Clifford Curzon (seven instances), Stephen Kovacevich (4 instances) and Alfred Brendel (3 times) and, most lately, András Schiff – it’s a powerful checklist. Lim’s Beethoven is technically flawless, additionally it is Beethoven that’s exceptional for this pianist’s potential to manage tone and distinction to fairly great impact. What this isn’t is Beethoven that has a lot depth past the distinctive manner the pianist phrases the whole lot on the floor.
The primary motion, the Allegro, was superlative. In Lim’s recording of this concerto (issued by DG in Korea) the very shut steadiness hints at a lot much less distinction than we bought right here (and really proves how mercurial and clear the acoustic of the Albert Corridor can generally be). Some particulars such because the ascending trills, and among the miniature figurations that Beethoven writes – such because the bell-like tinkles – have been fabulous. Some notes have been embellished with such lightness, with such serenity, they barely registered in any respect so mild was the contact in opposition to the keys: if it wasn’t essentially pathos, it was nearly there. At his greatest, the pianissimo enjoying shimmered and sparkled magically. One may need anticipated the F minor arpeggios (within the Improvement) to have been overwrought as a few of Lim’s unison enjoying can err in the direction of – however right here it had a context. There was no lack of virtuosity on this Allegro, though the benefit with which it was handed off solid some doubt in my thoughts as as to if among the rigidity and energy was actually right here. In a motion with its militarist hints, rumbles of thunder and corrosive and biting touches Lim might generally appear curiously understated.
If I had discovered the Adagio on the DG recording one thing of a minor miracle then the one on this efficiency left me reasonably chilly. That is hardly Beethoven at his most profound – and but, what Lim gave the impression to be enjoying got here near didactic phrasing, with little sense of any arc to affix the music collectively. He definitely did depart area between the notes within the opening of the Adagio – the issue was the arid air between them. The hymn-like theme was considerably higher achieved, with reasonably extra remorse mirrored within the enjoying, however the silhouettes that form this motion have been largely absent. The Rondo was usually chic, nevertheless. There have been flashes of brilliance right here (cascades of damaged octaves that gushed by way of the floodgates), giddying chromatic scales, and a way that Lim was defining the size of this efficiency the place beforehand he won’t have been doing that. Lim’s potential to play with monumental aggression – after which sink into pianissimos of staggering finesse – labored nicely right here; it additionally units him other than many younger pianists with a a lot much less expressive contact. However regardless of the brilliance, and there was plenty of it, this efficiency fell brief when it got here to digging deep.
The BBC Symphony Orchestra and Paavo Järvi didn’t all the time appear on the identical web page as Lim, not least as a result of this was hardly a Beethovenian sized orchestra. Woodwind solos have been generally somewhat rampant; the timpani definitely extra ‘martial’ than I can recall in some performances of this concerto. Lim’s one encore was Bach’s Siciliano BWV 1031 within the transcription by Wilhelm Kempff. It was dazzling, transcendent and had a core depth to it that appeared otherworldly. It reasonably oddly sounded as if he have been enjoying this for himself reasonably than the viewers. Undeniably magical.
The Linz model of Bruckner’s First Symphony is basically preferable to the later revision by the composer – though the work itself can appear barely recognisable to his center and later symphonies regardless of which of these editions one hears. Paavo Järvi’s time in Japan has clearly been well-spent with regards to seating western orchestras because the readability of sound we bought from this efficiency was usually unusually good – even when the enjoying of the BBC SO was not within the slightest similar to that of the NHK Symphony Orchestra, some of the spectacular of Bruckner orchestras. Nonetheless, what we lacked in depth and weight of string tone, and a scarcity of refinement within the woodwind, we greater than made up for in some wonderful brass enjoying – and that’s successfully what the core and backbone of this symphony’s Finale is fully rooted in establishing.
One might hardly say this efficiency hung hearth, although. Järvi positively zipped by way of the work maybe making a few of this symphony sound somewhat cruder than it wanted to. Did tuttis within the first motion sound only a contact too assertive? Trombones, for instance, are alleged to be majestic right here however maybe they have been simply much less imposing than may need been, extra obtrusive possibly. Dynamic contrasts won’t have had fairly the best candy zone, both; however the coda was thrilling. A bit extra gloom and darkness initially of the Adagio may need added some rigidity, however the cantabile phrasing was fantastically achieved – even when this wasn’t an Adagio which swung between inside tempi to the diploma it ought to have.
The place the First will get attention-grabbing as a symphony is within the two ultimate actions. Right here, Järvi’s tempi did justice to the music – particularly in a Scherzo that may generally appear to be overly repetitious. Järvi made the arpeggios sound weighty, however not overly so; they have been emphatic, however not so blunt as to be brief on rigidity. The Trio was a beautiful second of distinction. The Finale (marked ‘feurig’ – fiery) was the efficiency’s highpoint. Bruckner’s brass writing definitely grew to become extra highly effective and mountainous in his later symphonies (the Fifth, for instance) however with the First the seeds of it are all there (except you hear the 1890 revision). Järvi clearly knew the place to undertaking the size of this motion: the bloodthirsty opening, fortissimos and crescendos that have been by no means lower than their marking, tuttis that weren’t encrypted in distant sound. Timpani have been particularly thrilling, with little of the restraint one generally hears in Bruckner. The coda was excellent, helped by the truth that Järvi didn’t actually put the brakes on.
The live performance had opened with Erkki-Sven Tüür’s Aditus. A form of overture (because the composer describes it) it’s an exhilarating work firmly planted in each an atonal and tonal world the place its centre of gravity lies in the usage of an intensive percussion part. The ebb and circulation of timpani, tubular bells and different percussion in opposition to a kaleidoscopic mantle of strings stretches tonality till the work melts into the fullest spectrum of orchestral sound. Paavo Järvi, who gave the primary efficiency of the work, and the BBC SO, performed the work fantastically, with a blistering conviction and certainty as to its drama and musical impulses.
One in all two standout performances of the night – the opposite being a four-minute encore of Bach enjoying of beautiful magnificence and depth.
Marc Bridle
