Germany Martines, Mozart, Schmidt: Evgeny Kissin (pianist), Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra / Fabio Luisi (conductor). Live in the Digital Concert Hall from the Philharmonie Berlin, 7.10.2023. (GT)
Marianna Martines – Sinfonia in C minor
Mozart – Piano Concerto No.23 in A major, K.488
Schmidt – Symphony No.2 in E-flat major
Marianna Martines (1744-1812) is a composer largely unknown in the concert hall, and it is encouraging that neglected female composers are becoming better known after years of neglect – or in the case of Martines – for centuries. Born in Vienna, her family lived on the Kohlmarkt in the same building as did Nicola Porpora and Joseph Haydn. She studied with Johann Adolph Hasse and Giuseppe Bonno and sang and played often for Empress Maria Theresa. Martines never married and she composed as many as 200 works including 4 masses, 6 motets, 2 oratorios, 2 sonatas and concertos for keyboard and one sinfonia. It is thought Mozart wrote his 1768 Mass K.139 based on her creativity as well as his D major Piano Concerto K.175 for her to play. Her gifts were so highly respected that she became a member of the Accademia di Bologna. Her musical soirees attracted Mozart and Haydn, the Irish tenor Michael Kelly and Charles Burney who claimed that she spoke English well, apart from being fluent in German, Italian, and French.
The Sinfonia in C minor opened on an Allegro con spirito with a charming idea which was lyrical and bright in its harmonies – a little like Haydn’s witty symphonies perhaps, but Martines has her own identity here with humour expressed through the strings and woodwind. The second idea had a smooth elegance and developed to contrast the first and second themes. The Andante non troppo opened on the two flutes and the strings with a plaintive tune invoking a summer’s pleasant afternoon strolling in a park. The entry of the harpsichord imbued charm and grace to the eloquence of the strings. The Finale: Allegro spirito opened stridently and assumed a celebratory idiom that became increasingly grand with wonderful virtuosity from the clarinets and an innovative forceful, buoyant idea heard throughout the orchestra. This symphony was a fine and memorable introduction to this gifted composer.
The Russian-born pianist/composer Evgeny Kissin debuted with this orchestra in 1988 with the Tchaikovsky First Piano Concerto under Herbert von Karajan. Since which he has made a successful transformation from wunderkind to that of a mature artist while moving his domicile from Moscow to London and now to Prague. It is some years since I have heard him, and this was an intriguing occasion to hear Kissin in this ever-popular late concerto by Mozart.
The opening Allegro started gorgeously on the strings – and there was lovely virtuosity from the clarinets, flute and bassoon before Kissin opened on superbly expressed chords – his facial expressions however became increasingly distracting, and the first cadenza was immaculate rather than wondrous, as he cleanly picked out notes on the keyboard. This was all well-rehearsed and yet I spotted little exchange between the conductor and soloist. Luisi is not fond of using a baton, preferring to sculpt out the sound with his beautifully expressive hands, which throughout were a highlight evincing all the musicality of Mozart’s score.
The Adagio is the emotional centre of this concerto, accentuated by exquisite keyboard expression from Kissin of intense beauty and grace as an idiom of sadness emerged from the two clarinets before it becomes increasingly upbeat as the mood changed again with the clarinet echoing a pensively sad idea. In the Finale: Allegro assai, the mood became celebratory and this was heard throughout the orchestra’s playing with the soloist joining them to storm towards the bright, joyous finale. Rewarding the warm applause by the packed Philharmonie audience – Kissin played an encore by Mozart – the Alla turca movement from Mozart’s A major Piano Sonata No.11 K.331.
The conductor said in his pre-concert interview that he had admired the music of Franz Schmidt from his time studying in Graz, where Schmidt was celebrated annually at Graz Cathedral with a performance of The Book of the Seven Seals oratorio. This was a revelation to Luisi, and he believes it to be the most important oratorio written in the last century. Luisi became fascinated by this music, and stated Schmidt’s tonal language is hard to classify in comparison with the Second Vienna School, as he remained loyal to the Austrian-German romantic school and yet developed his own quite different harmonic sounds in both his orchestral and chamber compositions, whilst not an imitator of Brahms, Bruckner or Mahler. Rather than talking to the orchestra about Schmidt, Luisi said he preferred they discover the music themselves.
Schmidt’s Second Symphony began with the first movement (Lebhaft) on the clarinets and bassoon with a beautiful flowing theme picked up by the flutes before moving to a dramatic idea with the timpani announcing a passage echoed by the brass. This heralded a rather Straussian rich harmony on the strings and developed swiftly before slowing down again with a tap from the timpani. The woodwind reprised the opening idea and gradually a crescendo of sound rose beautifully like waves in the whole orchestra with delightful ideas from the clarinets, cor anglais and the bass clarinet and accompanied gorgeously by the strings before a glorious harmony on the eight horns brought the movement to a magnificent close.
The second movement, Allegretto con variazioni opened on the woodwind with a rather sad theme accompanied by the strings. In one of the variations shared by the woodwind there seemed to be invocations of voices from one of the composer’s great oratorios. Luisi’s affinity with the music was clearly expressed on his face as the flowing gestures of his arms and attractively sinuous hands sketched out the attractiveness of the score. A propulsive dramatic idea emerged on the strings and was underscored by the percussion and the brass with a march-like rhythm.
The Finale. Langsam, opened on the solo horn with a feeling of nobility and grace and was picked up by the strings and became serene, almost heavenly on the woodwind, in extended passages. The pace quickened under Luisi’s direction, then momentously slackened before the brass entered magnificently. We now heard the percussion and the glorious four trombones accompanied by the strings in a passage of great drama and excitement rising to a crescendo on the brass and percussion ushering in the glorious culmination.
This was an excellent concert embracing two little-known works matched with a popular Mozart concerto and underlines the world-class musicality of the orchestra and shows that the Berlin Philharmonic can successfully develop a widening repertoire of unjustifiably neglected music offering a fresh second life to (often) forgotten composers.
Gregor Tassie