Prometheus Overture - Beethoven
Piano Concerto No 5 (Emperor) - Beethoven
Symphony No 5 - Beethoven
On most counts, the above all-Beethoven programme presented by the National Symphony Orchestra last Friday is about as safe as you can get. With the Fifth Symphony and the Emperor Piano Concerto on the same night, there isn't the slightest chance that the hall will be anything other than full. And these are two works which are hugely resilient. It's hard to play them in a way that won't leave a substantial proportion of concert-goers by-and-large satisfied.
These minimum criteria were easily met in Friday's performances. Philip Martin's strange attempt to make an early entry towards the end of the finale in the concerto appeared to affect neither the confidence of the pianist nor the audience's appreciation of his contribution. Martin's approach was what you might call functional, more breezy than noble.
Kasper de Roo, by contrast, presents Beethoven in a gruff, overweight manner, a lot more thrustingly emotional than Martin, but with sound that's often thick and clotted, and favouring a forward and bottom-heavy string balance that obscures much of the detail of the wind-writing. In short, this concert was a testament to the tamper-proof resilience which, for nigh on two centuries, has protected Beethoven while the cause of other composers has fluctuated widely.
