Christoph Eschenbach
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Against the odds, notably baggage restrictions and an unexpected fire in
the artists' bar, Christoph Eschenbach led the Philadelphia
Orchestra in the second of their scheduled Proms, a titanic pairing of
ultimately triumphant fifth symphonies. Both received wonderfully polished performances, the Philadelphia sound
one of beautiful string unison, purely refined woodwind and luminous
brass.While this undoubtedly had its advantages in maintaining clarity
throughout the Beethoven, it prevented the symphony from communicating on a
broader emotional scale - the rough edges only occasionally glimpsed.
This
was the only issue however, as the interpretation had plenty of vigour and
was wonderfully executed. Eschenbach secured a truly magical transformation
from scherzo to finale - you couldn't hear a programme rustle - and parts
of the Andante shone with a radiant beauty, despite the occasional
deviation of tempo.
Ensemble was crisp, helped by incisive timpani and the pinpoint accuracy
of basses and cellos, and pianissimo effects were sharply observed. The end
felt sufficiently hard won, the leader David Kim an inspiration to
the violinists, exerting enough to puff out his cheeks at the end.
Tchaikovsky's fifth, similarly concerning itself with fate and its
eventual overcoming, received a top drawer performance. The baleful
clarinet of Ricardo Morales suited the darkly coloured first
movement perfectly, and Eschenbach, keeping an iron grip on the tempo, saw
to it that the themes were integrated tightly, the string sound beautiful
once again. Here he allowed the brass a rougher texture, so giving the work
more of a Russian hue, used to great effect as the music died away.
The velvet tones of violas and cellos were perfectly attuned to the slow
movement, placed in front of the conductor with the violins either side.
This was the symphony's emotional heart, its shattering climax followed by
silence in an unexpectedly Brucknerian parallel. The finale was a true
affirmation in these hands, violins singing forth in the major key to the
crammed arena, and the flourish of the final chords capped the transition
from darkness to light.
Eschenbach modestly received the tumultuous applause before showing the
orchestra's lighter side in an encore of Smetana's Dance of the
Comedians, pulling around with the tempo as a crowd pleaser. The
journey had indeed been won, the flames - both musical and otherwise -
extinguished.
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