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(Concert Review) BSO, Beethoven, Emanuel Ax, and Kurt Masur

7.10.05
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Tanglewood
Lenox, Mass.
Sunday, July 10


KURT MASUR, conductor

BEETHOVEN Overture to Fidelio, Opus 72c
BEETHOVEN Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Opus 37
featuring pianist EMAMUEL AX

TCHAIKOVSKY Serenade in C for strings, Opus 48



It doesn't get much better than it did this afternoon at Tanglewood, with Kurt Masur, one of the premier conductors of Beethoven, on the podium directing the Boston Symphony Orchestra, with guest pianist Emanuel Ax, through two Beethoven favorites.


The orchestra warmed up with the Overture to Fidelio, a delightful romp delivered with remarkable clarity and punch. Beethoven is always rhythmic, but this was Beethoven at his MOST rhythmic, and Masur -- conducting this first piece from memory -- subtly and seemingly effortlessly elicited sharp contrasts of bold bombast and soft, lyrical, drawn-out notes that modulated atop swirling strings that slowly swelled until they overtook the top of the musical mountain.


The Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, however, was the entree on the program, and it proved to be a hearty meal peppered with Emanuel Ax's virtuosity and a dollop of his whimsy.


The piece opens at a lively pace in the Allegro con brio, featuring a lot of interplay between the soloist and the orchestra, almost like call and response in jazz. Ax seemed to have a great time with the many trills and arabesques in the right hand, but he, in tandem with Masur, also knew when to hold his cards close to his chest, and there were a few moments when suddenly the piece stopped but the implied rhythms kept going, before the orchestra would pick up the pieces. This is artful stuff, and it's what separates the BSO from your average band.


As the piece developed through the Largo section and into the concluding Rondo:Allegro, Ax played the temptress and the taunter, egging on the orchestra in different directions, rhythmically and harmonically, making the band dance with him into unexpected corners, luring the musicians down garden paths, before they all came together in a rollicking conclusion that had the audience on its feet.


After intermission, the concert concluded with the Tchaikovsky.


Ax returns to Tanglewood on August 16 for more Beethoven -- this time an all-Beethoven recital with none other than cellist Yo-Yo Ma in Ozawa Hall.






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