Highly intelligent game

Season opening at the Dresden Philharmonic

Is there such a thing as half or three quarters of luck? Perhaps it was in any case a fortune that was found again, even with a lot of efforts, at the opening of the season of the Dresden Philharmonic last weekend, to which the artistic director Frauke Roth personally welcomed the audience and at the same time thanked him for the constant accompaniment on the "careful way" back in pronounced normality. And with everything we still and continue to have to do without, that was returned and redeemed, which is one of the main reasons for visiting the Kulturpalast at the Dresden Philharmonic: the longing for encounters and touch in music could be met, and indeed not with half measures, but with a complete and intense concert experience.

This included a loyal audience awaiting the anniversary season with a good 800 people in the hall, but also that at least the opening went almost as planned with Beethoven - not with the “Missa Solemnis” that we did Hopefully will be heard soon when the situation for singers and choirs eases - but at least with two piano concerts. Originally all five concerts were planned, the compact performance of which allows exciting artistic lines of development in Beethoven's work to be traced. Here, like a burning glass, the attention was focused on the 3rd and 4th piano concerto, which were placed next to each other without pause or work contrast, and: played by the same soloist, which also enabled interesting thoughts on interpretation and interpretation.

With Seong-Jin Cho (26), who was the first Korean ever to win the renowned Chopin Competition in 2015, a very interesting soloist had been invited who was highly recommended by chief conductor Marek Janowski at the season performance in March. That Janowski not only knows how to promote young talents when choosing soloists, but also presents extraordinary manuscripts that also challenge the orchestra, became evident at this concert. Because both were by no means satisfied with the familiar, let alone comfortable. The mixture of a noticeably open and at the same time carefully prepared interpretation was the basis for a successful dialogue between Janowski and Cho, which repeatedly stimulated each other and thus also emphasized the strength of the compositions.

The theme was already exciting, be it in the great orchestral introduction in the 3rd concert or, performed by Cho in a very natural way, at the famous beginning of the 4th concert, which should never have a finished, solid character, we know about the complexity of the now the following score! And it is precisely these subtleties that one could admire in many passages with Cho: his playing is highly intelligent and carried by great calm and clarity. Accents take on a primordial power, and his ability with fast, pearly passages and trills is rich in nuances and forces you to listen. Especially in the two slow movements and in the cadences there were moments full of tension, which were well to the point in proportion and proportion and still exuded musical breath.